Marvelous
by BlackGhost0079
Summary: Tails' life is flipped upside down when a single night at a party turns disastrous. Now it just seems like the entire universe may be out to end his life. And the only one that can save him, or perhaps get him killed, is a mysterious pink hedgehog.
1. WTF Just Happened?

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the characters and places therein, except for the OC, which i do happen to own. Kinda. If that's still legal. Let's just go ahead and say it's legal for now.

A/N: For those who have had the chance to view this story before it's untimely demise a year ago, apologies are in order. It was a rough time. But all is good in the land of stump. I have returned to the writing throne, fresh and ready to go ( which is evident by the new Pen name, eh?). The story ran away from me into a place where I originally didn't want it to go. But things are back on track now. For the most part, this story is very spontaneous. How spontaneous? You'll probably figure it out very quickly. It has a lot of elements not too sure suitable for all readers. Would have been rated T but there are a lot of elements that prevent that. Anyway, enjoy the story and all random hilarity that ensues.

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It was Sonic's eighteenth birthday that night. And what better way to celebrate one's liberal freedom than spending it in a nightclub. And what better nightclub to spend it at than the most prestigious nightclub in all of Rengou Town than the Jade Dragon. Rengou Town was like no other orient town on the planet. Many came there simply for the attractions. Others, though, came there for a little more attraction than the other attraction-attractors were attracted to. But no one cared about that kind of knowledge right now. The only thing that mattered was the blue hedgehog's block party, which everyone seemed to be invited to. Doesn't matter if they were former enemies, or just random people off the street. It should have mattered, but for some unearthly reason, it didn't. Outside the Jade dragon, a stretch limousine pulled up to the long red carpet extending out of the gem-studded palace. Inside, the blue hedgehog and his entourage sat waiting…and waiting… and waiting. On the account of one little twin-tailed fox.

"Sonic, I don't know about this. You could get in big trouble for doing this. I could get in big trouble for doing this. Why are we doing this?" he panicked.

Sonic, correcting his monotonous clip-on bowtie slammed his right hand down on the fox's head and stared him in the eyes for the 100th time since they left his house. "TAILS! CALM DOWN!"

"How can I be calm! I'm sneaking into a nightclub using a fake ID! I'm not old enough to be in clubs! I'm not even old enough to drink!"

"Well, aren't you glad we came here instead of staying in knothole?" The other…animal…squirrel…princess…thing?…in the white dress beside Sonic said. "I know back home, it's illegal to do things like this, but Rengou is a lot different in its laws than we are. You can drive when you're 14, get into clubs and bars at virtually 12, and you can even drink as long as you have a wingman."

"Whoa, what?" Sonic flipped his attention to Sally. "How do you know all this?"

Sally rolled her eyes. "Please. I'm a princess. I break rules and curfew on a constant basis, what haven't I done yet?"

Sonic and Tails' expressions soured, and they looked at Sally with a disgusting look, which immediately sent her the message they were getting. "No! AUGH! Why would you guys even think about that!"

"You didn't exactly give a reason not to."

"Point taken."

"Well…." Tails calmed down a bit. "I guess that means I'm old enough to be your wingman."

"Darn right you are!" Sonic said, slapping him on the back. " You'll always be my wingman, pal."

"Really?" The fox blushed.

"Yeah. Who else is gonna carry me out of there when I get wasted?"

"Yeah. You're a real pal…" Tails frowned.

"Anyway, I think it's time…" Sonic said, kicking open the door to the vehicle and leaping out on the red carpet. "TO GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

Cameras flashed all around them. Sonic and Sally were paired together as they walked, with the blue hedgehog showing off in various, stupid poses. It was his birthday, let him enjoy it. Not every day the news and paparazzi get to collect photos of a world hero on his special night. Others soon arrived at the club. Like Knuckles and Julie-Su, Bunnie and Antoine. Amy Rose, who beyond all objection for reason's involving age-altering rings and paraphernalia still managed show up, and even the Chaotix made a guest appearance. Maybe that was because they were the bouncers.

On the inside, the strobe lights and retro-style dance music turned everyone into a hypnotic zombie. The bar was already full of people drinking themselves to an early alcohol-poisoned death. Sonic sat at his booth with all of his friends, minus Amy, who were all laughing and having a good time. Everyone except tails…and Amy. Who knew where she was. But Tails sat alone at an empty bar stool on the opposite side of the club. You know, the side where people who have had too many drinks go to sit to pass out. He wore a completely angered look, sitting with his arms crossed and his chin rested on the bar surface. It wasn't fair that everyone could go out partying, minus Amy, and he couldn't. They all sat and joked, minus Amy, dancing with each other, minus Amy, and having a good time, maybe Amy? But what was he supposed to do about it? He was the wingman, the designated driver of the team. Just once, he wished he would be able to experience what the other, older Freedom Fighters were able to, minus Amy. It wasn't fair. It was never fair. And he knew that soon, there was going to be an after party after the original party was over.

He looked over at Sonic's booth, his eyes terrified at the sight of Bunnie high off her tail and dancing on top of the table with a cocktail in one hand and her underwear in another. The things a fox sees will sometimes scar him for life. That was one of those things. Hours passed, and nothing seemed to change, except this time, it was Sally and Bunnie on the table, with Sonic acting as conductor to the booze fest. "Hey, hey hey! Hey! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!" Bunnie said, nearly toppling over. "I have er idern!"

"You mean idea." Knuckles corrected her.

"Don'cha tell me watta say, spikey!" she hissed back at him.

"And what is this so called idea?" Sonic asked her. "Does it involve me, you and a hotel room?"

"Ha! HAHA! Ha. NO!" she said, throwing the cocktail at him. Sonic leaned backwards over the chair to dodge it, but then fell onto his back. "You sit thar, sugah…I got ah surprise fer ya…happy birthday…" she said, rolling down the sleeves to her already revealing dress.

"STOP HER! SHE"S BEEN HITTIN' THE JUICE!" Sally screamed.

"How'd she get that?" Julie-Su wondered. "We need guys with security status!"

The young fox watched as the Chaotix came rushing in and tackled Bunnie from the table before she did something they would all regret, minus Amy. All in all, a fun night. He looked down at his watch. It was already past 3 A.M. His eyes were burning due to the 6 hour strain of strobe, and he figured a migraine from the music and noise wasn't making the night any better. He looked down at the space in front of him where twenty-seven empty glasses of apple juice sat. He was fed up with the club now. He just wanted to go home.

Just then, he felt something bump up against him on his right side. Looking out of his peripherals he could make out something pink. He thought of it as nothing more than Amy Rose, who probably had nothing better to do than come over and talk to him, so he just ignored it. He didn't feel like talking to anyone anyway. But a moment later, he felt something slam against his arm. "Amy, c'mon!" he cried. "You're heavy! Get up!"

But she didn't answer. Tails wriggled his arm from under the weight of the girl and pushed her back into her upright seated position. And that's when he noticed that the person he was sitting next to wasn't Amy rose. Sure, it was a hedgehog. It was pink, and it had a hair band. Strangely, the hair band was black, and instead of bangs, her hair looked slightly reminiscent of her older persona, where she almost resembled Sonic in a way. He also noticed the person wearing a black and white maid outfit, with a pair of matching, laced boots. "Uhhh….." Tails tried to say. "Ummm….I'm sorry, but could you, ya' know, not lean on me…that would be nice…"

The pink hedgehog, who was not Amy, slowly opened her bloodshot eyes and turned to look at him. Tails felt his entire body freeze under the girl's stare. "Bloody hell, what did I do?" she said with an accent.

"Excuse me?"

The hedgehog turned around in the stool to completely face him, staring dead into his eyes. She placed one hand on his shoulder and another on his face. "What happened to meh? Mah face is all foxy and the like? Oh gawd, I'm livin' the life of Riley!"

"Umm, can you please stop touching my face?" Tails said, trying to swat her hand off of him.

"Huh?" the girl said, blinking her eyes over a hundred times. "HA! That's whut it twas!" she screamed, suddenly appearing inebriatedly happy. "Ah, sorry lad. I thought I was lookin' in a mirruh."

"Yeah. Sure. No harm done." Tails lied.

" Where did mah manners go. I have tah introduce mahself after makin' such a poor introduction." She said, slipping out of the chair and standing in front of him. She pulled up her dress and bowed in a polite, unstable, curtsey. "They call meh Marvel. Marvel Ro..s..omething or other..."

The moment she finished her name, the girl came crashing down onto the floor. Tails jumped from his stool and to her rescue once he saw how hard she slammed her face into the tile. "Hey! You alright!"

"Uhhd beh nurc iffa hersa wata" He heard her mumbling.

"What does that mean?"

Marvel turned over onto her side, her face now completely red and her eyes spazzing out. "Wuld you be so kind as to escort meh over to de ladies room?"

"Uh, sure…" Tails said, picking her off the ground. He helped her walk all the way to the restrooms, which unluckily sat on the other side of the club. He wasn't weak, but the girl hanging over his shoulder wasn't exactly light either. She wasn't overweight at all. Boy, was she not overweight. In fact, she had the perfect body. That much he could tell just from her leaning against him, which caused many reactions in the boy's body he would wish to keep un-reacted in public. When they reached the ladies room, Tails stopped and stared at the door, waiting for Marvel to take her leave and go inside. But she didn't move, instead, she stared at him and frowned.

"Wut are you waiting fer, lad?"

"What do you mean what am I waiting for? That's the girl's restroom, I can't go in there."

"Oh, oh ho ohohohohoho, oh oh no, ooooooooooooooh no!" Marvel started crying. "It's coming! It's coming fast!"

"What's coming fast?" Tails panicked.

"No no no no no ono no, not now not now not now!" Marvel continued, bending over and clutching her stomach. She lurched back and forth and side to side in unstable motions, nearly tripping over herself on multiple occasions. The two-tailed fox could only watch as she painfully danced around the restroom lobby, not even making as much as a pass for the ladies room. "Um…Are you…ok?"

"SEIZURE!" she raised her head and screamed at the ceiling in a dialect completely different from her previous one. "CAN'T YOU TELL WHEN A WOMAN IS HAVING A SEIZURE? WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

"I didn't know! I didn't!" Tails defended himself. Marvel reached out with a fast hand and grabbed him by the fur of his chest, yanking him in and staring him dead in the eyes.

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW!"

"Hey! Calm down!" Tails said, being wrung around by the hysteric pink hedgehog. She swung him around like a rag doll until he thought for sure his neck would snap. Then just like that, she stopped. She stood there for a minute, absolutely still, until a moment later, she gagged and vomited on the floor in front of him. Tails was pretty much mortified at this point. That became evident when he realized his left eye was twitching. Then came the unsettling feeling in his stomach. Then came the lunch he had eaten that afternoon. And soon, it was on the floor too.

Not much remains to be said after that moment. Berry blue acid trips and strobes were all that was seen for the next few minutes of his life. Rooms spinning, Sonic wearing a tiara on his head and doing the running man. Things didn't really make sense anymore. But the strangest part was, it stopped making sense the moment he arrived that night. Nothing seemed so certain after that. He wasn't even sure is what had just happened really just happened. It all seemed like another dream.

Waking up on the bedroom floor of his workshop, Tails felt his head pretty much splitting apart. His body felt as if he had been hit by a truck, or ten thousand trucks. Either way, it was a pretty big truck. He pushed himself up, working his way back onto his bed, which was completely messed up. He looked across the room at his mirror and saw the distorted image of himself. His eyes opened wide at the sudden realization of what had happened. He stumbled over to the mirror, his jaw dropping in horror. His fur was all messed and rough, he had a large bandage covering his forehead and the tip of his right ear was gone. That's right, a chunk of his ear was missing. Tails was horrified at his appearance, but even more at the sight of his room. From what he saw in the mirror, he turned around to see numerous bottles of Vodka and other alcoholic beverages strewn everywhere. "No…No No No No No No!" He panicked once again. "How did all this get here! Oh no, oh no no no no no. I'm dead if someone finds this. I'm dead, oh gawd I'm so dead!"

Tails palmed his face and stammered back onto his bed. He tried to sort out his mind and figure out just what had happened the night before. He remembered going to Sonic's birthday party, and after that, he couldn't seem to recall anything else but waking up on his floor. He lay back onto the middle of the black lace bed, resting his head on his two pillows. But then it occurred to him that he didn't have two pillows. It also occurred to him that his bed wasn't made of lace. He ran his hand over the surface of the sheets and found that there was indeed something in it. Picking it up, he found it to be a pair of silky, black, laced panties. His eyes shot open and he jumped up from the bed, his heart speeding faster than Sonic could ever run. He threw the underwear onto the floor, staring at it as if it were a cobra about to bite him. He then looked back to his bed, where he finally noticed the lump under the sheets. Someone was definitely sleeping in his bed. And from the evidence of clothing, it was obviously a female. The possibilities were running through his mind like a computer. Boy meets club, boy meets girl, wakes up with a hangover and a mysterious figure in his bed who may or may not be wearing underwear at that current moment in time. If he could sweat an ocean, Tails could swear he was doing it now.

Soon, he saw the body under the blankets moving around and making small moans. The figure was moving around under the sheets like a snake, going in circles. "That was one hell of a party…."

"No…it can't be…" Tails could have sworn he heard that voice before. And the British accent only made him remember it even more. Pretty soon, the body underneath the sheets started slithering in his direction, until it promptly reached the end of the bed and fell to the floor. Tails watched as the pink spikes smacked the floor, then some bangs, followed by a pair of eyes, a face, and then the whole body came crashing down out of the sheets. The pink hedgehog whipped up to her feet, somersaulting over to him and stopped just inches from his face. She stared at him with her eyes barely open enough to see and grinned.

"I'm gonna kill you."


	2. Psychotherapy

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog, though I sort of wish I did. Maybe then his games in the last few years wouldn't have sucked so bad.

**Characters Thus Far**:

Sonic the hedgehog (18) - Super hero who runs his mouth more than his feet.

Sally Acorn (18) - Over-dramatic princess with a rule for breaking rules

Miles "Tails" Prower (15) - Somehow got involved with a lunatic and probably slept with her but doesn't remember a thing.

Amy Rose (16) - Disappeared shortly after arriving at Sonic's party. probably dead.

Marvel the Hedgehog (?) - Obviously not in her right mind.

**A/N: Beginning every chapter I decided to start adding a little character insight for whoever appears in the story and has a significant role. Sort of like a preview, or like a review, dealer's choice. Whatever the case, chapter two awaits. Review if you see fit. I wouldn't mind that so much. I actually encourage it.**

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Tails jumped back and slammed against the wall, terrified out of his mind. "Y-y-y-you!" he said, pointing at the female hedgehog in front of him. Who, by the way, was not wearing articles of clothing. That much was evident because they were lying scattered all over his room at this point. What also became evident is that his initial suspicion had been correct. It was indeed the girl he met at Sonic's party. The one who turned his night upside down in only a matter of minutes. What was her name again? Oh, that's right…Marvel. "Just what the heck are you doing in my bed! And why aren't you wearing any clothes! No, wait, don't answer that last one! I don't even want to know!"

She stepped up to him and cupped his quivering chin in her hand and gave him a seductive smile. "But I think you **do** want to know."

"Stop touching me!" Tails yelled, slapping her hand away. "Stop touching everything! Just get the heck out of here!"

"Do you not like me?"

"You're naked! And you're touching me!"

"Your point being?"

"STOP DOING IT!"

Marvel sighed, pouting and sauntering back over to the bed, where she had hoped to find her clothes. However, she noticed that they were scattered around, especially the underwear Tails had thrown earlier. She narrowed her eyes and turned back, glaring at him. "You mind letting me get dressed?"

"Oh, sure no problem." Tails said, leaving the room. He closed the door behind him and turned his back to it. Countdown to loss of reasoning, 3...2...1...Ignition. Tails' face cracked, and he kicked open his room door. "Wait, no no no! This is **my** room!"

Marvel sat with her legs crossed on the edge of his bed. Completely clothed. With a weird look on her face. Tails' jaw dropped and he stood there looking like a fool with his finger pointed at her. Not only had she cleaned herself up, she had cleaned his entire room. Everything that was destroyed before was fixed and cleaned in the most streamlined way imaginable. The windows sparkled, the floor was shining vibrantly. The bed sheets were folded in those little patterns that no hotel maid could ever dream of replicating. Everything was perfect. "How….how did you do all this…?"

"It's what I do. I'm a maid. Can you not tell by the outfit?"

"But that's impossible. One minute it's nothing short of a disaster, and the next minute, it's like heaven in here."

"Are you complementing me? Because if you are, I wouldn't mind if you kept going."

Tails held his head and tried to calm himself down. The shock of the moment was more or less over. Time to do what he did best, and that was think. "Um…Marvel is your name, right?"

"So you remember me?" The girl smiled. "Technically, my full name is Marvelous R. St. Vanderburgh. But if you want to call me Marvel, that works too."

"Right…" Tails said, not sure what to say to that. "What are you doing here? And how did you even **get **here?"

"I think the first thing you should figure out is how **you** got here."

"Me? What about me…wait…CRAP!" He said in sudden realization. He was supposed to be Sonic's wingman at the club. But he can't recall ever taking him home. As a matter of fact, he can't recall anything of the previous night. Everything before the party was still there. The hectic time forging IDs, Sonic accidentally locking himself in the wrong limo and Knuckles promptly punching the door off. Things like that. But once he got to the club, everything became fuzzy. He looked at Marvel, who just continued to eerily smile. "You know something, don't you?"

"Do I look like I know something?"

"You look like you look like you do."

"Well, I guess you looked at me looking like I look like I look like I do."

"Huh?"

"I do."

"Well, you mind telling me just what is went on?"

"Well…" Marvel trailed off. "It started about really late last night. Or I guess you could call it early this morning. But late last night sounds more convenient than morning. I'm not really sure which one would…"

"Does it matter!" Tails yelled. "It was late this morning! Continue!"

"You passed out."

"What?"

"That's what happened. You passed out."

"That doesn't even begin to explain how I woke up looking and feeling like crap."

"Well, to be correct, you vomited on yourself **until** you passed out."

"And just how do you remember this and I can't?"

"Well, you did say..."

"Do you always have say "well" before you say something?"

"Well…"

"Forget I asked…"

"Well, there's not really much left to say after that. You gagged yourself, fell out, and then this strange blue guy showed up. I forget his name...uh…Speedy?"

"Sonic."

"Yeah, that was it! Sonic! And he said he was going home, but you had the keys, so…"

"Oh, good." Tails breathed a sigh of relief. "At least no one drove themselves home."

"I kind of gave him the keys, though."

Tails' eyes pierced the pink hedgehog with a ferocity that exceeded ten thousand suns. "Come again?"

"I gave him the keys. He seemed like a pretty nice fellow. And he was so kind to me."

"YOU GAVE A DRUNK TEENAGER THE KEYS TO A LIMOUSINE!"

"Oh, chea, please…" Marvel said, shooing him. "Like I would ever do something so irresponsible."

"Then who drove!"

"It was that young woman in the red dress with the really long ears and the robotic limbs."

"Tell me that didn't happen…**please** tell me that didn't happen…"

"It didn't hap...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH I get it. Sarcasm."

"My life is over…" Tails said, sinking to his knees. "Why couldn't I have been aware of this! UGH! I'm so stupid! I should have never gone along with this! I never should have made those fake IDs. I should have never snuck into that place to begin with! No one called me, there's no way they could have driven themselves home in the state they were in. Why would Sonic of all people even need a car! Oh man, I wonder if they made it home okay…"

"Last I checked yeah."

"Wait, say what?"

"I'm pretty sure they all made it home. I was there."

"What do you mean you were there?"

"Well, thanks to that little fiasco one of your friends pulled, a stripper was accidentally lit on fire and subsequently had the entire building nearly engulfed in flames. So everyone was kind of kicked out. That being said, Miss robo-bunny took helm of the fancy limousine until she passed out at the wheel a half a block later. So I volunteered to drive."

"You're making this sound all too convenient..."

"Well, I guess so. I drove your little pals to their homes and dropped the vehicle off back at the dealer with only a minute left to spare on the rental time! Talk about cutting it close, huh?"

"You did all that?" Tails asked her. Marvel nodded her head violently.

"But…then I realized that you were still in the trunk of the limo, so I had to run back and find you before they decided to purge it in the cleaner."

"What was I doing in the trunk?" Tails said flatly with an annoyed look.

"Wasn't enough room inside."

"And…?"

"Well, I didn't make it in time." Marvel said as cheerful as she could be. Tails was on the last of his wits end, his teeth grinding together veraciously.

"What do you mean you didn't make it in time…?"

"They had already started the automated cleaning process. Thing was halfway through the rinse by the time they realized you were in there. Sorry bout that."

Tails now knew the reason his fur was so ragged and clumpy. That settled one mystery. "What happened after that?"

"I carried you home."

"You carried me **here**?"

"I might not look it, but I'm pretty strong."

"That's not what I meant. How did you even know where I lived?"

"A turtle told me."

"A turtle."

"Yeah. Spoke to one right out of the lake a few miles down. Said you lived all the way up here in this workshop. But then we kind of started talking for a while, and I only took my eyes off you for a second before I realized you were gone."

"What do you mean I was gone?"

"Turtle got ya."

"Try explaining that to me…"

"I was only talking to the turtle for a few minutes, so I put you down next to me. But when I turned around, you were gone. But then something funny happened! Turns out turtle had a friend, who just so happened to think you were dead. You kind of smelled like death, and I figure turtles love death. I had a pet turtle once. It killed itself. But that's another story. Anyway, he bit you and tried to take you under the water, but I managed to spot you at the last moment and pry you free before he ate you."

"That doesn't even sound plausible!" Tails argued.

"Well, he did manage to get a piece of you."

Oh yeah, that was right. Tails reached up and felt his ear, the one that had the chunk of it missing. Strangely, it almost fit along with her story. But what turtles does she know of that eat other creatures? Did creatures like that even exist? "Yeah…I guess he did…"

"After that, I brought you here."

"And that's all?"

"That's all."

"Nothing else happened?"

"Nothing else happened."

"I feel like something else happened."

"I feel like a woman."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Then how do you explain you waking up in my bed, with no clothes on need I remind you?"

"Oh, that." Marvel said nonchalantly. "Well, you see, I noticed that last night, or was it earlier this morning?"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!"

"Anyway, I noticed that you were kind of cute when you were unconscious, so I…"

"I thought you said I passed out?"

"You did."

"Then how did I go from being passed out to unconscious?"

"I didn't say it was a pleasant ride in the trunk of that vehicle, did I?"

"Huh?"

"Tire irons do wonders."

"I don't even want to know…"

"But you looked so cute and helpless when I got you here that I couldn't just leave you alone. Your body was cold and lonely, so I thought 'oh what the hell I have nowhere to go I might as well just stay here with him.'"

"And so you spent the night here."

"It was morning."

"WHATEVER!"

"That being said, I tried to warm you best I could, so I took off my clothes and used my own body heat to keep you all snugly and warm. At first, I admit, I didn't have the courage to do something like that. I mean, gosh, I never even...uh… kissed a person before. Now I was naked and cuddling with a man all of a sudden? Talk about shock. It took me four cases of booze before I was wasted enough to not care. But then I sort of lost perspective and wrecked the place before I could finally find the bedroom."

"Thus explains the mess…" Tails sighed.

"Yup. That explains everything."

The fox found himself laughing a little. Whether it was a sane or insane laugh, he didn't know, but a relieved one none the less. "That's all that happened…."

"See, you were worried for nothing." Marvel said, standing up and coming over to pat him on the shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess I was." Tails said. He didn't know exactly who this girl was, but she didn't seem as bad as he initially thought she was. Sure, she was annoying, and her accent kind of bothered him. But it seemed like she went through a lot of trouble for people she didn't even know. And she especially went through a lot for him. Albeit, she was the one who caused most of the situations to which she again was led to rescue him. But all in all, he was thankful she was there when she was. "I should apologize. I'm kind of in a bad mood still. I didn't really mean to yell at you."

"Think not twice about it. I'm accustomed to things like that."

"You're accustomed to being yelled at?"

"It comes with the job."

"O…k…" Tails said, his grin a little lopsided. "Well, thanks, Miss Marvel."

"I'm not older than you, and I'm not a super heroine."

"Huh?"

"Just call me Marvel."

"Sure. But what are you going to do now? Not to be rude, but one night is enough. I don't think you'll be able to stay here again. Sonic and the others probably don't remember what happened last night either. And even though I don't live with them, I'm sure my parents won't condone me having young girls sleeping over at my workshop."

"I see your argument." Marvel thought about it. "But the way I see it, we're already past all that, aren't we? I mean, we did sleep with each other already. Technically that makes us lovers."

"I don't think sleeping in the same bed constitutes that…"

"Then would you like to be?" Marvel stared into his eyes. Tails felt a chill run up his spine and all of his fur stand on end.

"W-w-what?" The fox boy stuttered.

"I asked if you would like to be my lover? It's a simple yes or no question."

"That's…a little too sudden to be asking something like that…I mean…we don't even know each other that well."

"But you seem like the kind of person I would **like** to get to know."

"I-I can't. Something like this…besides, I'm sure there are other people who would love to be with you."

"But none of them are as cute as you."

"You think I'm cute?"

"I **know** you're cute."

Tails grew hot at the girl's compliment. He actually couldn't believe it. Someone thought that he, Miles Prower, was cute. Even if he would have preferred to be called handsome, he'd settle with cute. Then he thought about it. Marvel was pretty attractive. And she had a certain attraction that he really didn't notice until just that moment. However, she seemed older than her age would actually imply. But he had never had a girlfriend. At least, a legitimate girlfriend who didn't break his heart or would tell them they were in love with Sonic instead. The entire species of "girl" was something he knew little to nothing about. But this was his big moment. It's not every day you wake up next to someone that beautiful, and naked, and the next thing you know, that person turns out to be your girlfriend. But what would Sonic and the others think? Surely they wouldn't see any problem with this, right?

"I'm not too sure about this…I mean…I don't think it's a good thing…if we…y'know…"

"So you're rejecting me?" Marvel said, her tone suddenly getting deeper. She looked annoyed, and a little bit angry. Tails gulped and nodded his head a little.

"I'm sorry. But I just don't think this will work out between the two of us…Don't get the wrong idea! It's not about you; it's more or less me! I didn't mean to offend you if I did, but…!"

"Why don't you like me…?"

"It's…uh…uhhh…." Tails found himself unable to speak with the girl's terrifying stare. "Like I said, I-I just d-d-don't think this will w-w-ork out…th-that's all"

Marvel squeezed harder on the boy's shoulder, until he was forced down onto his knees. Her fingers were inching towards his throat like she was about to strangle him. She brought her face closer to his until he was sure that if he even breathed they would be touching. She continued to stare at him with those jade green eyes, which now looked like the eyes of a rabid wolf. "You think I'm stupid don't you…"

"No! That's not what I think! I think you're a very intelligent girl!"

"You think that just because I'm homeless and a maid that you can look down on me? Just because you have a nice place to live and food to eat everyday? And because you have friends who love you and respect you and parents who care about you, that give you the right to judge me?"

"No, you're getting the wrong idea!"

"What, you expect me to be like every other Otaku's dream out there and subject myself to a semen-covered BDSM position on your bed? Or maybe you would like me to $% your $^% and &*^&^ myself until I %/* , and then %!^ you and ^&*$ you until you ^%$ your ^$%& all over my $&%$ then toss me aside like trailer-park trash, is that correct?"

The things a young fox shouldn't hear at his age. Tails was sure he had never even heard of most of those words, and he was even more certain that he never cared to hear them again. But it was pretty evident that her coursings had done their work. Because as he sat there nervously on his knees, praying to the almighty that this crazy girl wasn't about to go off the deep end and kill him, she seemed transfixed on something else. Her attention was drawn to a rather embarrassing growth that the young boy had yet to realize was even there. He looked at Marvel, who continued to stare down with a surprised look, and then found himself looking down as well. To his utter humiliation and shock, he found the girl's words did much more than stimulate his vocabulary. "S-Stop l-l-l-looking a-at it!" Tails screamed, smacking the girl's hands from his shoulders and lifting himself into the air. He floated there for a few seconds, before falling back to the floor and covering himself with his hands. Which at this point, seemed to be a little ineffective. Marvel bore a wide grin, placing her hands on her hips and tapping her feet. "Seems like that **was** what you were thinking, you perverted little thing you…"

"That's not it!" Tails defended. "Saying things like that…."

"Makes you a little hot and bothered, yeah? I figured as much."

"You were trying to kill me a second ago!"

"I was barely touching you."

"It felt like my collarbones were going to crack!"

"My mistake."

"Just what the heck is with you? I thought badly of you at first, yeah, I admit that much. But then I gave you a break after hearing what you did last night!"

"This morning."

"SHUT-UP! And now you go and do something like this! Just what is with you!"

"I don't see nothing wrong with a little teasing. Unless of course, you found me to be sincere about it."

"What is sincere about **anything** you just said!"

Marvel laughed, taking her place back on his bed. "Maybe I want you to %$^ me and ^$% me out. Maybe I enjoy being $^%& from behind and &*%$ into submission. I'm already wearing the outfit. Why not make the rest of the persona fit?

"Stop saying that!" he said, covering his ears.

"You're an exhibitionist, aren't you?" Marvel grinned, staring at his unmentionables. Tails slammed his hands back down once he realized he was back out in the open.

"That's it! I've had enough! Get outta here right now! I want you out of my room, out of my house and out of my life!"

"Take a chill pill dude and relax."

"ARGH!" Tails roared, forgetting his pride and embarrassment and jumping onto the girl. He pinned her down to the bed and stared madly at her, like he had just lost all sense of reason. He never really recalled being this upset before in his entire life, but this girl had obviously brought out the worse in him. Taken aback by his sudden display of recklessness and force, Marvel looked completely surprised. For a second. But then she narrowed her eyes and smiled at him.

"What are you going to do now? Do you wish to defile me here and now?"

"You….YOU!" Tails said, trying to reach for her neck and strangle her, but he found that he couldn't do it. He was driven mad by this girl, on all counts that she should have already been gone. None of this should even be happening to him. If anyone was to blame, it was Sonic. He should have never gone to that party. He should have stayed home. But no, he had to go and do it. And now he's in this situation. Angry, frustrated, and a girl lying in his bed who just probably happens to be a masochist or something far worse.

But just then, Marvel placed her hands on his shoulders again and smiled. "Nothing can be gained from acting abrasively. You should take some time to sort these things out."

"Sort what out! What's there to even sort out about you! You're crazy! You come here uninvited, you do all these things to me, and then you say **I'M** the one being abrasive!"

"You want to take a look at yourself first?"

Tails stopped for a moment. Whether he liked it or not, she was actually right. He was the one yelling and angry, and she was the one just lying there under his weight. Truth be told, he was behaving like a wild animal. Realizing this, he released the girl from his grip and backed away from her. "There you go. Nice and calm."

"Just…please, go…" Tails said, his clenched fists shaking.

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"And. That. Is. Because?" his teeth clenched.

"Because I like you."

"What?"

"Believe it or not, I came here searching for someone. I believe in divine intervention, and it is that belief that led me here to find the one I once fell in love with."

"That's great for you, but I don't think you're going to find that someone in my house and I'd appreciate it now if you would just **leave**."

"But I do think I've found him." She said, looking at him with a genuine sparkle in her eyes. "I believe that someone is you."


	3. The Other Pink Meat

**Characters Thus Far: **

Sonic the Hedgehog: Knows what really happened the night of the party

Princess Sally Acorn: Forced Sonic to tell the truth out of guilt

Miles Prower: May or may not have slept with a masochist pink hedgehog

Marvelous R. St. Vanderburgh: May have stretched the truth a little

**A/N: So another chapter is up. Feel free to leave reviews. Once again, it is highly encouraged. Enjoy the story.**

* * *

Marvel walked along the side of the street in the downtown shopping district of the city. Much to the objection of the fox boy in front of her, she continued to follow him. Tails was wearing an orange hooded sweater and a black boonie hat as he made his way to his destination. He was to meet Sonic and Sally at a local food joint, which happened to be Sonic's favorite place for picking up chilidogs and the like. However, he didn't want to be seen in public with the nuisance that was known as Marvel. Ever since he left his workshop, she had been following him. It was bad enough that she caused so much mess the night before. But now she was stalking him too. And all that nonsense she spouted about fate bringing them together didn't really help his reassurance that she was a sane person. All around, people were staring at them. Mostly, he figured it was because he was dressed like an escaped convict trying to blend into normal society. But mostly it was because he was being tailed by a pink hedgehog dressed in a maid's outfit and black boots. Who was now dancing around behind him as they walked.

Frustrated, Tails turned around for what seemed like the millionth time and angrily pointed his finger at her. "Will you **please** stop following me?"

"Nope."

"Why won't you leave me alone?"

"Because we're destined to be together."

"I don't believe any of that! I told you this already!"

"I'm going to stay with you no matter what." She said, twirling around.

Tails, frustrated, dug his heel into the ground, making an imaginary line in the concrete. "Do not cross this line. If you so much as come one more step closer to me…"

"You'll what?" Marvel glanced at him teasingly.

"I'll…..I'll…uh… "

"Yes?"

"I'll….fly away." Tails said, not really sure what else he would've said in that situation. He couldn't well have threatened her, especially not in public.

"I can fly too."

"No, you can't."

"I can if I grab you."

"Ugh…" Tails said, walking away from her. Marvel started to follow him again, but remembered the imaginary line he had drawn in the ground. She stared at it for a few seconds, before looking up at Tails, then back at the ground. She pouted, making an angry face and swinging her arms.

"Hey, that's no fair!"

"She took that…?" Tails wondered to himself. When he looked back at her, sure enough she was standing in the same spot, not sure if she should cross the line or not. Smiling, he turned around and began walking away. "I can't believe it. She actually bought that."

But a few seconds later, he heard a familiar sound of dancing footsteps and singing approaching him at an alarming speed. "Can you meet me halfway! Right at the borderline is where I'm gonna wait…for you! I'll be looking all night and day! Took my heart to the limit, and this is where I'll stay!"

"I said not to cross the line!" Tails ranted. But the girl twirled around him and grabbed him by the arm. She pulled him in close until they were side by side and she clung to his arm.

"I know. But then I figured it out. There are a lot of lines in the ground. If I treat them all as the same line, I can cross each one infinitely without ever having cross one particular line."

"What?"

"I know, it's so amazing, right?"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Maybe you should go back to school. They teach these kinds of things."

"Could you let go of me!"

"But I don't want to." She grinned, squeezing his arm tighter. "We were fated to meet each other, and I'm never going to leave your side."

"You're being a nuisance!"

"And you're being a…" Marvel stopped suddenly. Tails looked at her expression, which was now one of complete bemusement. She was looking in front of them, and Tails soon turned to see what she was staring at. When he laid eyes on the two figures standing in front of them, he felt his stomach churn and his whole body grew cold.

Sonic and Sally were staring at them, wide-eyed, and not sure what to make of the current situation. "I'm not sure what's more disturbing…" Sonic said, snickering. "Your outfit, or…yeah, your outfit."

"S-S-Sonic…" Tails murmured, embarrassed beyond all reason. "This isn't w-what it looks like!"

"What is it supposed to look like?" Sally asked him.

"I….Uh…..I….Oh boy….."

Sonic and Sally sat at the table, looking at each other, then looking across at the couple on the other side of them. Tails sat with his hands covering his face, and Marvel giddily clinging to him. A waitress soon arrived with their drinks, and Sonic wasted no time downing his. Tails, on the other hand, didn't so much as move. "So…" Sally said, deciding to break the awkward silence that surrounded them. "Are you feeling better, Tails?"

"Huh?" the younger boy mumbled.

"You were throwing up pretty bad last night."

"No, don't worry, I'm fine." Tails said, drinking some of his apple juice. A small drop managed to miss his mouth and travel down his chin before Marvel swiftly attacked it with a napkin. He looked surprised by it, but she simply smiled at him and continued to sit there cheerfully.

"I can see why you would be." Sonic said, winking at him. Tails didn't catch it, but soon, he did, and he wanted to make sure no one else got the wrong idea.

"No! I-it's not like that!"

"Dude, she's hugging all over you. And she even wiped your face. With a **napkin**. You telling me there's nothing going on between you two?"

"No, there isn't!"

"Speaking of which." Sally interrupted, staring at Marvel. "I don't think we had the chance to make a proper introduction."

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that." Marvel sighed. She let go of Tails, much to his delight, and spun around in a full circle into a curtsy. "I'm Marvelous R. St. Vanderburgh. It's a pleasure to meet me."

"Wow." Sonic whistled. "She's not even a princess, but she has way more manors than you do, Sal."

Sally kicked the hedgehog in the leg, which forced a response out of him when it jumped and smacked the underside of the table. "Yes, I suppose she does. I'm Sally Acorn. And this comic routine over here is Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Introductions are the last thing on my mind." Sonic said, staring at Tails, who then looked confused. "I think what I want to know is how the two of you hooked up so fast."

"Wait, what do you mean hooked up?" Tails asked him, feeling nervous again now that all the attention was once again switched to him.

"Oh, come off it man! You think we forgot about what happened last night?"

"W-what do you mean! Nothing happened! Of course nothing happened last night!"

"Come on, Tails." Sally joined in the assault. "Don't tell me you've forgotten all about last night."

"…To tell the truth, I don't really recall anything from last night."

"It was this morning." Marvel said, taking her seat back beside him. Tails gave her a vicious look, but she smiled innocently and turned her attention away from him.

"Oh man." Sonic scratched his head. "I've never seen anyone so crazy in my entire life."

"What do you mean crazy?" Tails asked him, suddenly interested in the subject. "I was passed out the whole night."

"Morning" Marvel chimed in.

"WILL YOU STOP IT!"

"Tails…you didn't pass out last night." Sally told him with a concerned look. "In fact, I don't think you ever went to sleep."

"What are you talking about? The last thing I remember was feeling sick…and then…" Tails thought about it. "Wait…"

The fox's eyes had begun slowly moving towards Marvel, who now began to turn her face away from him. She looked like she was trying to avoid his stare purposefully, and the fact that she was whistling gave that away more than anything. "What didn't you tell me about last night?"

Marvel giggled nervously. "I told you what happened. Everything I told you earlier was the truth."

"Somehow I'm beginning to believe that's **not** what happened. I mean, your whole turtle story sank all reason of you **ever** telling me the truth."

"You mean you honestly don't know?" Sonic asked him. Tails shook his head.

"No, I don't."

"Well, I can tell you this much. I never knew you had it in you, buddy."

"Had what in me?"

"Well…" Sonic said, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up onto the table. "You see, everyone was having so much fun last night…

* * *

_**Earlier**_

Tails heaved onto the floor, his eyes bugging out and his body trembling uncontrollably. Marvel stood there for a moment, not sure what to do, for she herself, seeing the fox boy blow chunks all over the lobby floor, felt so nauseous that she almost wanted to do it again. However, through her tearing eyes, she saw a blue figure approaching her.

"Hey, you alright?" Sonic said to her. She couldn't talk, but gave him a ditzy smile. Tails, on the other hand, began laughing to himself. "Yo buddy, you don't look so good."

"Nah, no, no…I'm good." He argued.

"I thought the plan was you not drink, and we indulge ourselves in alcohol!"

"I haven't drunken anything all night…wait, that's a lie…"

"Dude, how much have you had!"

"I lost count around 17."

"This isn't going to end well."

Tails began laughing hysterically. His vision was starting to become distorted, and hallucinations began running rampant. Just what it was he drank, he doesn't know. Someone could have spiked the drinks for all he cared. But it was too late to do anything about it now. He hiccupped once, and the moment he did, all hell was preparing to break loose. He turned to marvel, strutting up to her, and laying his hands on her shoulders. The girl slumped, not sure she felt like even standing, and tried her best to look him in the eyes. "You…look so beautiful tonight, Amy."

"My name…isn't Amy…." Marvel said, sweating uncontrollably.

"But you look like Amy. You have a face like her. And you have eyes like her. But where did you get such big sweater-hogans?" Tails said, feeling the younger girl over. "I don't even…what…? Yeah, that's right…" Tails said, staring at Sonic.

"Wait, why are you looking at me like that?" Sonic backed away a little.

"It was you. It was **always** you! Every time I fell in love with someone, you always took them away from me!"

"Hey, buddy, calm down!" Sonic tried to calm his estranged friend.

"Fiona…Barby….even Amy!" Tails said, turning back to stare at Marvel. "You even took her from me too! But not anymore! I'm not letting you get your way with anymore of my girls!"

Marvel didn't have enough time to react before the boy pulled her in close to her and slammed their lips together. She felt a surge of heat overcome her, especially as Tails reached down under her dress and slapped her on the behind. Embarrassed, she pushed herself away from him and took a few step backs. Her face was completely flushed, but soon, the feeling she had before swept her again, and she started swaying back and forth. "Welcome to the Fantasy Zone…. ". A few seconds later, she collapsed.

"Oh crud!" Sonic yelled. He looked at Tails, who had suddenly managed to disappear from sight. Sally and Knuckles came running up to him when they heard all the commotion.

"Yo! What's going on!" Knuckles asked him.

"It's Tails! He's gotten into something and he's lost it, man!"

"Oh my gosh, what happened to this girl?" Sally asked, kneeling down and placing her palm to her forehead. "She doesn't look well at all. She's burning up!"

"In more ways than one." Sonic added in.

"Sonic, this is no time for wisecracks!" Sally yelled at him. "We have to get this girl to a hospital!"

"But what about Tails?"

"What about him? I'm sure he can't get into too much trouble."

"Then what do you call that?" Knuckles said, staring at the center stage of the club. As one of the strippers walked down the aisle, Tails sat at a table on the opposite side. Or rather, he was lying on top of the table, squirming around like a fish out of water. His tongue hang out and his eyes were doing back flips in his head. He continued to squirm until one of his feet accidentally kicked a shoe into the air, which was somehow perfectly aimed at one of the strobe lights. The light fell and struck the stripper over the head, instantly igniting when the hot sparks from the ceiling met with her unfortunately oiled down body. She leapt from the stage screaming, until she crashed into the bar, which wasn't the ideal place for someone who's on fire to run into.

"Yeah, this **DEFINITELY** won't end well."

The club was closed down minutes later. Everyone stood on the outside, completely soaked from the sprinklers that went off during their hasty retreat. Sally stood near the limo a block away with Marvel in tow, who by now gained some bit of sense as to what was going on. "Hey, you alright?" sally asked her.

The girl didn't answer her for a moment, but then looked up at her and frowned. "Blame it on the A-A-A-AA-A-Alcohol…"

"What?"

"You don't listen to the radio much, do you…."

"Um…no…"

"You live… a sad life…"

Not soon after, Sonic and Knuckles ran up to them. Sonic turned to Knuckles, who had the small fox who had nearly killed them all slang over his shoulder. "What'd you guys do to him!"

"Don't look at me!" Sonic defended. "Knuckle-head was the one who took him out."

"It was either that or we get arrested for arson!"

"Wait." Sally said, surprised. "You guys ran from the police!"

"Technically speaking, we were sort of in police custody when they started questioning people. They were about to arrest Tails, so I had to bust him out of there. Granted I had to bust a few faces first.

"You did WHAT!"

"I don't like jail."

"This has nothing to do with jail!"

"You can say that easily because you're a woman." Sonic said to her. "I've been through rough experiences in prison before, I would know. Hello, Prison Island?"

"Listen, guys! That's dangerous!"

"If Tails got caught, guess who'd be in trouble! He wasn't even supposed to be in there!"

"You mean the age thing was a lie?" Knuckles looked at Sally.

"A lot of things were a lie, alright! That doesn't matter now! We have to get out of here before they follow you guys!"

But it was a little too late for that. Around the corner, they saw a civilian woman screaming her head off at their location, which only made things worse. "Quick, get in the car!" Sally screamed. Knuckles dropped tails and jumped into the passenger seat, while Sally let go of Marvel and ran to the driver's seat. Marvel, not feeling too up to standing on her own, left it to Sonic to catch her, before he put her in the back seat and hopped inside himself. Sally nearly peeled off, before she looked at Knuckles, then into the back. "Where the hell is Tails?"

"Left him." Knuckles said nonchalantly.

"WHY!"

"I'm not taking the heat for this one. The kid's on his own."

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME!" Sally screamed. She backed the limo up, nearly running the boy over. "Someone grab him!"

Marvel, who was lying on her stomach on the floor, opened the door and grabbed him by the arms. However, she was pulled forward when the boy started rolling over in his unconsciousness. Not really thinking more into it, she pulled him up and chomped down onto the closest thing she could get her teeth into. This unluckily for him was his ear. She bit down harder, not wanting to lose her grip, but was falling out of the car as a result. Sonic reached out and grabbed for the first thing he could get his hands on, which surprisingly for Marvel, was the elastic band of her underwear. It didn't really help that the cops were now coming around the corner. Sally didn't want to chance it, but being caught was much more risky than Marvel's current retrieval tactics. She stepped on the gas, with Marvel hanging out of the door, and Tails being dragged behind on the dirt road. That was sure not to be fair on his fur in the morning.

* * *

Tails stared at Sonic and Sally, completely red in the face, and his jaw hanging. "You…mean to tell me…..that…I…..did all that…?"

"Sad, but true little dude…" Sonic said. "Honestly, I didn't think strippers were combustible. But once again, you proved me wrong."

"That's nothing to cheer him on about, Sonic!" Sally kicked him in the leg again.

"B-but, then I…" He looked over at Marvel, who was also red in the face. "I…I kissed you….?"

"I don't think that was the worst part…"

"What do you mean it wasn't the worst! You completely lied to me! That story was way different from yours!"

"Kind of…"

"A LOT OF!"

Now everything was starting to make much more sense than it had before. The reason his body was all torn up, and the reason he was missing a piece of his ear. Suspicion led him to think that somewhere while being dragged across roads, Marvel chomped it off. In all actuality she would have never bit it off if Sonic had found a better place to grab her. That seemed a lot more believable than turtles, and he felt like a fool for even believing her story in the first place. But one thing still remained a mystery to him. "Then what happened? What happened after we left?"

"We took you home." Sally told him. "You were so wasted we had no other choice."

"But I thought you were going to an after party?"

"We did." Sonic said. "And since you trashed the club, we had it at your place instead."

"You did what!"

"Chill out man. Nothing happened. It was your average after party."

"You mean to tell me you guys were the ones responsible for trashing my place!"

"We were going to tell you eventually. Actually, the whole reason we called you out here today was so that we could explain this whole situation to you. No hard feelings right?"

Tails stared angrily at Sonic, who seemed mostly apologetic, but in the end, he couldn't hold it against his best friend for long. They had way too much history by now for him to get upset over something so trivial. Marvel had cleaned the place anyway, so it didn't really matter anymore. However, one thing did matter. "Then how do you explain me waking up next to her?" He pointed at the pink hedgehog next to him. "Who just happened to be stark naked, by the way."

"Whoa, dude, what you do in your bed is **your** business." Sonic held both his hands up.

"I didn't mean like that! I want to know how she got there!"

"Oh, that…" Sally laughed a little. "She was running a fever, and she needed to lie down and rest. But no one really knew who she was, nor could we make a pass by the hospital after that little getaway. I thought it wouldn't hurt to leave her there for the night. But the only safe place for her was your room."

"You didn't have to wake up to next to her." Tails shot an angry glance at Sally.

"I'm sorry, Tails. You're right, I should have asked."

"Don't bother with it now…nothing can be done about it."

"Then we're all friends now?" Marvel smiled, hugging him. He pushed her away and crossed his arms.

"Will you stop touching me?"

"Aww…you two make a cute couple." Sally grinned.

"Don't encourage her!"

Sonic and Sally laughed, while Marvel continuously tried to hug Tails, who kept pushing her away. Just then, Marvel ceased her affectionate attacks and sat still. She had a serious expression, and began looking around them. "Something wrong?" Sally asked her.

"Shhhh…" Marvel said, listening in on their surroundings. The three teenagers around her were wondering what she was doing. They got their answer a moment later when Marvel stuck her leg in the air, pressed it against the side of Tails' chair, and kicked him away from the table. Not even a second later, a large object thundered into the table, breaking it apart instantly. Sonic, using his quick reflexes, grabbed Sally and pulled her away from the table just in time. As they stared at what was left of the wooden wreckage, they noticed that the thing that wrecked it was a large hammer. But not just any hammer. It was one that Sonic knew all too well.

"Oh no…."

"OH YES!" came a voice from a few feet away. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw the other pink hedgehog standing there, with a look that would kill puppies. Her clothes were shredded and torn, and she had multiple bruises all over her. Sonic was about to run away, like he always did, when he noticed that the target of the hedgehog's aggression wasn't him, but the other pink one. Amy Rose had reappeared, and she pointed her finger at Marvel and roared. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!

**Comments: Don't forget to review!**


	4. Bad Karma

Disclaimer: Sonic, not mine, we all know this. They all know this. Everyone knows this. Hopefully.

**Characters Thus Far**:

Sonic the Hedgehog - Likes throwing parties in other people's houses.

Sally Acorn - Likes to point out the obvious.

Miles 'Tails' Prower - Wanted to be like Sonic. That also means having a pink stalker.

Marvel St. Vanderburgh - Isn't as weak as one may assume.

Amy Rose - On a warpath of vengeance and malice.

**A/N: The chapter is kind of short, albeit I couldn't really figure out what to make happen here. Oh well. Nothing more to say, so enjoy.**

* * *

_**The Night Before**_

Vector the Crocodile was having a hard time getting his point through to the young, pink hedgehog in front of him. Though he had told her numerous times that she wasn't allowed inside of the establishment, Amy Rose continued to persist, to the point where he was beginning to lose his patience. "Listen, kid, I can't let you in. Laws are laws."

Amy stared at him angrily. "You guys break the law on a daily basis! What's so harmful about letting me in? It's Sonic's birthday! I should be in there!"

"Sorry, but the blue man gave me specific orders not to let you in there."

"He did what?" Amy fumed. Vector held his hands up.

"Listen, this has nothing to do with me, you take it up with Sonic."

Steaming mad, Amy turned around and stomped away, leaving Vector to breathe a sigh of relief. A moment later, Espio appeared from beside him, having been invisible the whole time Amy was there. "Is she coming back?"

"I don't think she is. And I hope she isn't."

Just then, Vector felt something crawling about his neck. It was Charmy, who was shivering. "She's not going to hurt us, is she?"

"I think the danger is over for now. But I don't think Sonic is going to be too happy about the wrath he's gonna deal with tomorrow."

Amy Rose, upset that her attempts at joining the party were foiled, kicked the side of the building furiously. She felt betrayed, mostly because Sonic had purposely kept her out in the cold. Should she have expected that? Probably. But this was one night where she was certain she had to be there. She wouldn't miss out on her love's big night just because someone told her she couldn't attend the party. You tell Amy Rose no, and she'll find some way to do what she wants anyway. That's when she suddenly came up with the idea to end all her frustration. If she couldn't get into the party legally, she'd have to force herself in. And what better way to do that then sneaking around back. As she made her way to the back of the club, she came to a solid steel door that marked her point of entry. Whipping out her infamous Piko-Piko Hammer, she spread a wide grin and giggled. "Nothing's gonna keep me from my Sonic! Ready or not, here I…"

Amy was cut short when, as she swung back the hammer and prepared to bust the door down, felt it smash against something behind her. The smashing sound was followed by the sound of someone getting the wind knocked out of them. Amy turned around sharply to see what, or who, it was that she had hit. Whatever it was, it now lay in a heap of boxes on the opposite side of the small alleyway behind the club. The only things visible were two legs. Pink legs. Which were sporting some very fashionable black boots. Amy wondered who it was she had just maimed, but the thought didn't cross her mind until moments later that the person might actually be injured. She approached the boxes cautiously and tapped one of the feet with the end of her hammer. It didn't move. For now, she might have been safe from any sort of hostile attack. For all she knew, the person lying under those boxes was dead. Amy reached out and grabbed the person's feet, pulling with all her might until little by little, the body slid from underneath the cardboard tomb. As soon as the body was fully free, Amy jumped back in surprise as the hedgehog instantly sat up, looking half-dazed.

But her surprise wasn't because of the sudden jump-back-to-life by this mysterious hedgehog. No, it was because, in all forms, the person she now stared at looked almost identical to her. The other pink hedgehog stared back at her, with a semi-annoyed expression. "You hit me."

"W-W-Well." Amy was trying to gather her words. As she stammered to talk, her eyes wandered all over the other girl's body. Though they almost looked like twins, there were distinct differences between them. The most notable being the outfits they wore. Amy would have never found herself walking around in a lacy, black maid uniform. "You shouldn't have been sneaking around back here!"

"Look who is talking." the girl grinned.

"Just who are you anyway! Why are you here?"

"That's confidential information, I'm afraid." The girl said, standing up and dusting herself off. "But I can assume we were heading for the same objective."

"And that would be?"

The girl pointed to the door. "To get inside this place."

"You have some sort of business here?" Amy looked angry. She couldn't tell if this was someone's idea of a joke or not, but for now, she'd decide to play it cool. The other girl shrugged.

"I was led here by the threads of fate."

"The threads of…what?"

"I am destined to be here tonight. There is someone inside who awaits my presence."

Amy didn't know what the girl was talking about, but she seemed like she was living some sort of daydream. Either way, she didn't have time to fool around. Sonic was inside, and she needed to find herself there with him. But this girl shows up at the exact same time she does, looking like her, and wearing a very provocative outfit. That just seemed a bit too opportunistic. Sonic didn't invite her, but instead hired a look-a-like to pose as her while giving him a lap dance. A look-a-like that had more proportions than she could ever wish to have, anyway. It was all beginning to make sense now. That's who she was waiting for inside, and that's why she herself couldn't get into the party. Glaring madly at the girl, who was simply bobbing back and forth and whistling, Amy lifted her hammer up and slang it over her shoulder. "Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble tonight sister, but I'm the only one who's got a date with destiny tonight."

The girl immediately glared back at Amy. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. That's so."

"Then you must realize we are at opposition."

"Yes. We are."

"I've traveled a long way, and have braved the harsh elements of this world to be here."

"Well, I've also traveled a great distance to be here tonight, and I'm not stepping aside to some bimbo dressed like a maid!"

"Then you must have the same destination as I?"

"Oh, I believe so."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that…"

"Wha-!" Amy was barely able to mutter before she felt something smash against the back of her neck. A moment later, she blacked out. Her body crashed on the ground, unconscious, and the girl stood over her, a single hand still lingering in the air.

"There's only room enough for one female protagonist in this story, and that's me."

* * *

Amy clenched her fists furiously. "You….do you have any idea what I've been through because of you!"

Marvel looked at her with her eyes half open and a wide grin. "Can I buy a vowel?"

"WHY YOU…!"

"I'd like to guess the phrase, Alex!"

Amy charged at the girl like a mad bull bent on destroying its target. But Marvel simply leaped into the air, letting the other girl run right under her, where she tripped on a piece of the broken table and came crashing to a halt on the ground. As Marvel landed again, she shook her head and frowned. "Well gosh. Never mind then. I'll settle with the bankruptcy plank."

"What in the world is going on?" Tails looked confused, still clinging to his chair for dear life.

"I don't know, but I like where this is going." Sonic smiled. Which earned him a toe-crushing stomp from Sally.

Amy slowly stood back to her feet, breathing heavily. She turned to Marvel, who was just standing there with her hands behind her head and whistling. "Do you…know how it feels to be nearly crushed by a burning building?"

"I guess you can say that."

"You attacked me…and you left me there…"

"Better than being burned alive."

"And I was trampled…by hookers who were on fire…"

"Dropped like it's hot. Huh?"

"And I was arrested for suspicious activity…"

"Well, you **were** lying in the middle of an alley…"

"My night has been a living hell…and this is. All. YOUR. **FAULT!**"

"Amy! Please, will you calm down!" Sally yelled at the younger girl. But she wasn't paying any attention to her. Her sights were focused on the other pink hedgehog that had caused her so much misery in the past night that would last her a lifetime.

"Sally's right. This is no time, or place, to be fighting!" Tails said, finally having the courage to get up and leave the safety of his chair. "Though I can kind of see why you would be angry…" he said, narrowing his eyes at Marvel.

"We're going to settle this!" Amy screamed at Marvel. "I'm not going to let that go! I refuse to lose to someone like you!"

"I never knew we were in competition."

"Don't lie to me! I know why you were there last night! You think I couldn't realize it?"

"Uhh…."

"You think that just because you look like me and dress like that you can just barge right in and lay your greasy little fingers all over my Sonic!"

"Wait, what?" Marvel said confused.

"Yeah I admit! You have a better body than I do! And your tits are a bit bigger too!"

"A bit…?"

"And how your waist is so small, and how your legs look so soft and beautiful….and…" Amy found herself getting off track. But a moment later, she snapped back to her delirious anger. "Y-You bastard! You're going to pay!"

"Yo, Amy, chill out!" Sonic said, coming near her. "I know what you're thinking, and I have to tell you, you've got it completely wrong. She isn't trying to steal me from.."

Amy spun around and hissed at him, which made the blue hedgehog cringe and freeze in his spot. "DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO ME! I KNOW IT WAS YOU WHO KEPT ME OUT!"

"I won't do it again! I mean it! Just calm down!"

"Sonic the Hedgehog, we'll settle this later…but right now, I have more important business with that bitch over there!"

"How many times must I hear that word…. Honestly...it hurts." Marvel said.

"I'm going to show you **hurt**." Amy said, walking over to her hammer and grabbing it. She spun it around furiously and charged for the other pink hedgehog again. However, Tails jumped in front of her, shaking his hands.

"Wait Amy! Listen!"

"RRRAAAGGHH!" Amy roared as she neared her target. She wound back for a swing, getting ready to unleash untold fury on her. But Marvel wasn't as worried about her own well-being as she was for the fox's who was still standing in front of her. If he continued to stand there, there was no doubt that he would be the one to get blasted, and not her. That was something she couldn't allow. Something she **wouldn't** allow. She reached out and grabbed Tails by the top of his head, which surprised him when he felt how strong a grip she had. In an instant, she tossed him to the side, before Amy's hammer could connect with his face. Instead, the head of the hammer found itself caught by the little pink maid, who was only using one of her fingers to stop it. Amy was dumbfounded, and pretty much so was everyone else. Marvel just smiled as she flicked the hammer and sent it flying out of the girl's hands once more. It spun in the air until it crashed into another table, which unfortunately for a young couple, ruined their lunch. Marvel then dashed behind Amy and raised her right hand.

"JUDO CHOP!" She said, smashing her hand down on the girl's neck and knocking her out. Again.

Amy fell to the ground, and Sonic was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Things could have ended a lot worse. However relieved he was to see the rampaging pink tyrant silenced, Tails wasn't too pleased to say the least. Picking himself off the ground from the powerful throw he had been so kindly given earlier, he stared angrily at Marvel, who now looked as if she knew what was coming next. "Why do you do this!"

"She was going to hit you."

"That's not what I meant! Why do these sorts of things always happen whenever you're around!"

"Bad karma, I guess."

"And why do you keep treating this like it's some sort of joke!"

"Huh?"

"You're always making jokes, no matter how serious the situation is! Somebody could've gotten hurt! And here you are acting like it's not a big deal!"

"Well…"

"Just why are you still hanging around here!"

"I already told you that. I came here specifically to meet you. And now that I have, I'm going to stay by your side."

"And **I **already told **you **that I'm not your lover!"

"But, I just proved my devotion to you, did I not?" Marvel looked pleadingly at him. "I saved you from a vile beast that was going to attack you."

"You beat Amy over the head and you expect me to be happy about that!"

"I did it to protect you!"

"You did the same thing to her last night!"

"Thaaaaaaaaaaaaat was different."

"I honestly can't believe you!"

"I can't believe it's not butter."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Ugh….I can't take much more of this…" Tails said, beginning to walk off. Marvel ran up to him and fell to the ground, grabbing his feet.

"Don't leave me here! I'll promise I'll be good!"

"Hey, d-don't do that here!" Tails said, trying to shake free of the girl's grip. As he looked around, he noticed quite a bit of eyes looking at them. The situation only made it look worse.

"Please, master! Don't leave me here alone!"

"H-hey! Stop it! You're drawing too much attention!"

"I'll behave myself! I promise!"

"Dammit! I said stop it!" Tails said, accidentally kicking the girl in the face. The small crowd around them burst out in loud gasps as they heard the impact of his shoe meeting Marvel's face. Tails stood there for a few moments, feeling like he had just been pierced with a million spears.

"_Did you see that? That boy just kicked his maid in the face!" _

"_He's such an irresponsible young man." _

"_How can he treat a poor, defenseless maid like that? Is he some otaku?" _

The whispers were all beginning to become louder and louder, until Tails' uneasiness got the better of him. He glanced down at Marvel, who was apologetically staring up at him, pretending as if she were about to cry. "Get…off of me…" he said in a deep voice.

Marvel, never before hearing that tone from him, released the older boy's feet and watched as he wasted no time taking off into the air. Sonic and Sally didn't know what to think of the situation, but knew that obviously, Tails had been utterly embarrassed just then. For reasons now known to him, he was partly responsible for what happened to Amy, much less Marvel, all though most of the trouble spawned from a misunderstanding. She had much right to be angry, like he did. And just like him, most of that anger spawned from one person. Marvel.

As she sat there on the ground, Sonic walked over to Amy and picked her up in his arms. "I better not leave her out here. No telling what might happen to her this time." he sighed. He looked at Marvel, who didn't really look like she was in any mood to talk to anyone at that moment. Sally palmed her face and exhaled loudly.

"I'll stay and take care of this mess…you make sure she gets home."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Hopefully she doesn't wake up and clobber me."

"And if she does?"

"I'll ditch her on the side of the road."

"Sonic." Sally crossed her arms. "Get."

"Yeah, yeah." The blue hedgehog said, speeding away.

As Marvel continued to sit there on the cold cement ground, she noticed that the sun overhead was beginning to be drowned out by clouds. Soon, the entire sky was cloudy, and it got colder. She felt something wet tap her on the head, and as she looked up to the sky, she found that it was beginning to rain. That reminded her of the day when she had left her hometown and set off on her perilous journey. Of course, now, she figured that it was just foreshadowing more disaster in her life. Things weren't always known for going well with her. That much was a fact, and her entire life was pretty much a testimony of it. But even so, she was still capable of making it work out somehow. Things always looked up, after a while. But this seemed like one situation where it didn't look hopeful. And haven't been hopeful since her arrival. Thunderclouds rolled in, and lighting began to fill the sky. This must have been one of those flash storms she heard so much about. You never know when they were coming, and you never know when they'll leave. And just like that, few, tiny drops of rain became a full torrent of water that covered every inch of the area, and left pedestrians scrambling for shelter. As she continued to sit there, her clothes instantly soaked and her hair sticking to her face, she sighed and hung her head.

"Definitely bad karma…"


	5. The Promise

**Characters Thus Far: **

Sonic the Hedgehog - Likes Chilidogs more than he does Sally.

Sally Acorn - Princess with the power to make things diplomatically solve themselves.

Amy Rose - Unconscious. Again.

Miles "Tails" Prower - Doesn't realize how much he's changed.

Marvel St. Vanderburgh - Victim of a broken heart.

**A/N: Alright, time for some storyline! Character development, phase one, initiate. Begin the story!**

No matter how many times he tried to convince himself that he didn't care, Tails found himself in the mother of all unavoidable circumstances. He tried to concentrate on the task at hand, which was fixing up the Tornado that was in need of a tune-up. He tried to distance himself as far away from reality as possible, but that was proving more difficult than he had ever imagined. The thought of the situation on the outside of those walls ate at him every waking minute that passed. Somewhere out there was the pink hedgehog known as Marvel. And by somewhere out there, it meant somewhere he didn't know about. After he had fled the disastrous scene in town, his only thought was to get as far away from that girl as possible. It didn't even matter what happened after that. Whenever Tails got angry, or frustrated, he would find himself doing some kind of work. In this case, fixing the Tornado. If he were to think about it in that sense, then most of his inventions came from him just being in a bad mood. Whenever Sonic or the others would treat him like he was still just a little kid, he would get upset, and would later be found building some radical invention to prove them wrong. To prove to them that he could be useful. But most of the time, those inventions would either get destroyed, or would later become obsolete.

Recently, there haven't been any needs for him, or his inventions. He was used to hanging around Sonic and the others, fighting Eggman or some other threat to knothole and the other new arising cities. But for almost a year, absolutely nothing happened. His life was quiet, peaceful. And sadly, Tails really didn't know what to do with peace. And with nowhere for his ventures to go, he mostly found himself alone, tinkering away in his workshop and working off his frustrations. And judging by how fast he was working, it must have been a lot of it he was feeling at the moment. He had never before been driven so far by anyone, not even his enemies. But in a single day, he was pushed to his limits by one, single girl. As he thought more and more about work, he found himself thinking more and more about her, and how her appearance had changed things for him in an instant. He never thought that his quiet life would be turned upside down the way it did, and definitely not by a girl. That's just his luck with women. He couldn't believe he said what he had said to Sonic that night. About how the blue boy stole just about every female interest in his life. Maybe that came with being a hero, or just being Sonic. Maybe it was an age problem, and maybe it was just a problem with him. Was he too young and childish for them? Was he just not cool enough? His mind traveled on it constantly, until a sudden loud crack of lightning flashed outside the window and snapped him out if it. Tails stared out the window, watching as the rain poured down like heaven's wrath. He was sure he didn't want to be caught dead anywhere in a storm like that. But as he went back to work, he realized that he had bigger problems. His right hand was still gripping the end of his wrench, and the top half faceted to the bolt. And apparently, the lightning had caused him to snap more than his attention. "Aw…COME ON!" The fox yelled, tossing the broken tool aside.

He jumped down from the bi-plane to his toolbox, searching for a replacement. However, his search ended in failure. Sighing, Tails looked outside the window again. He could never just stop in the middle of his work, and it looked like he would have to brave the storm if he ever wanted to get back to it. The tool shop he usually visited should still be open, but that would mean going outside in the crazy weather; something he didn't want to do in his current mood. But regardless, he would have to. Taking his yellow rain jacket and hat, the fox took one last, long sigh as he opened his front door and headed into the storm.

* * *

Tails walked through the door of the small store, surprising the old owl behind the front desk. As he adjusted his glasses, he saw the young fox crookedly smiling at him. "Well, if it isn't Miles."

"Hey Frank." Tails said, taking off his hat. "Long time, no see."

"Indeed, m'boy. And judging by your being here I take it you broke another tool."

"Yeah…" Tails tried to laugh. "More or less my fault."

"Don't worry about it. You've got a warranty here, so no problems right?" The older owl laughed heartily. "What can I get for ya?"

Tails came up to the front counter and placed the broken tool in front of him. "It's the Type-02 Foster."

"Ah, I see." Frank nodded. "We can get you a new one, no problem."

"Thanks Frank, I appreciate it."

"I'll just be a second." Frank said, disappearing into the back of the shop. Tails stood there and wondered, looking outside the window into the rain. Across the street, he could see the aftermath of what had happened earlier. The little restaurant had its outside lounged closed off for repair, even though only two of the tables bad been broken. Tails questioned the need to cordon off the whole area, but rarely did anything businesses do make any sense. And as he found himself thinking about it, he found his mind traveling back to the individual who had caused the incident in the first place. His expression soured, and he shook his head of the thought.

"Dammit…" Tails murmured. Even though he didn't want to, he found it hard not to think about her. Though none of the thoughts actually good ones. Somewhere out there in the storm, she was still there. He didn't know what happened to her after that. For all he knew she could still be out there. And as much as he didn't want to care, he realized that some part of him did. But why should he? She had been the single cause of everything bad that had happened to him in the past 24 hours. And she could even be thanked for everyone in town now thinking he was some kind of abusive male stereotype. And after everything she put him, and some of his friends through, he found it very difficult to get her off of his mind. It was quite obvious she had grown on him. And every second he thought about it, he found himself growing more and more upset.

"Miles, you okay?" Frank said, approaching the fox from behind the counter.

"Wha? Oh, y-yeah." Tails said surprised, not even realizing he was there.

"You looked kinda serious there. Thinking about someone?"

"What? No! Not at all!" Tails defended himself. "I couldn't possibly find myself thinking about anyone."

"If you say so." Frank shrugged. "Anyway, here's your tool." He said, handing Tails a small, black case. "The warranty's already taken care of, so don't worry about it."

"Thanks Frank." Tails said, taking the case. "I better be off then. Before the storm decides to get worse."

"Yeah, I guess I should be doing the same. But considering I live here, that's not really a problem for me, haha!"

"Ha, I guess not." Tails laughed. "Well, see ya around." Tails said, slipping on his hat and leaving the shop.

As soon as he was outside, the weather hit him like a sack of potatoes. His fur had barely enough time to dry the first time before he instantly found himself drenched again. Guess raincoats didn't really help too much. Frowning, Tails tucked the case under his arm and began his long walk back home. Flying would probably be more dangerous than it would practical. For the most part, he didn't want to be lit up like a light bulb. Pretty sure that would be painful.

As he began passing through the center of the town square, he thought he had heard something familiar. The sound of someone singing. But through the sound of the rain, he couldn't really tell. He thought it as nothing more than his imagination. Why anyone would be out in this weather singing was simply crazy. There were the occasional townsfolk who scurried through the rain to their respective vehicles. And most of them littered the shops and cafes in various buildings. But next to no one could be caught dead in the middle of the weather. Everyone except him. As he continued walking, the sound of singing echoed through the air again. Tails thought he was just hearing things at first. But now, he knew for sure he was hearing it. However, just moments after it started, it had stopped again. And after waiting there for a few seconds he realized that he too had stopped. Moving, that is. Whoever it was singing he couldn't help but listen. Enough to completely render his bipedal movement useless. He couldn't even admit it, but he found something alluring about the song. Something that made him feel warm on the inside. It was a beautiful voice, like a goddess. Tails had never before heard such a lovely voice. A moment later, the singing continued, and moments later, it abruptly stopped. Tails was confounded by the sudden on and off, and his curious side compelled him to find out exactly what was causing it. The sounds were coming from towards the center of the plaza, and as Tails slowly made his way into the empty area, he saw no signs of life, no less the origin of the song. His heart sank a little, after realizing that what he thought what was where the sounds of the singing were coming from was obviously not there. Sighing, he turned around, ready to head back home, when suddenly, he heard the singing again. This time, it was much closer, and much clearer.

_The dream that will come true someday_

_Becomes a mere unheard whisper_

_That is lost within the light shone by the night_

_Soon enough, her eyes will open if it is fate_

_At least yes, only now..._

_I hang my head to the night wind, after said dream I know would never happen_

_The tears the moonlight trickling down from my hands_

_"What is it that you want?"_

_My lips uttered in the darkness_

_The smile that pierced my heart when we met_

_I want to protect it so much, I'm holding onto our fleeting promise _

_Even if I writhe in agony_

_Just being able to be close to you_

_Just being able to spend the same time with you_

_Would bring up distant memories, even if you can cure my sadness from it_

_As my thoughts keep on revolving_

_Wondering if we will ever come to a peaceful end_

_This frequently-asked question dances up the heavens_

_And in the dawn sky it changes into light_

Tails turned around again, looking in the direction of a large fountain. As his eyes traced over the large, marble structure, his gaze just so happened upon a small figure sitting at its top. As he moved in closer, he realized that he had finally found the source of the singing. But as the song continued, it was later stopped by the figure's voice being drowned out by the rain. Literally.

A series of gurgling coughs rang out, followed by a loud sneeze. Tail's goddess had suddenly turned into something worse. As he approached the figure, he realized it was a young girl. Pink in color, and clad in a dripping wet, black, maid costume. Tails grimaced as he realized just who it was he was staring at. As she finished choking, the girl turned around, now noticing she was being watched. As their eyes met, a slow and eerie silence overtook the area. As he continued to stare at her, she stood to her feet, and placed her hands on her hips. The boy was now given a full glimpse of her drenched body, in which her clothes could really do nothing to conceal anymore. The grin on her face only made it seem like she didn't care, but it was enough to make the older boy avert his gaze. "So…that was you singing…" Tails said, blushing a little.

"You?" The pink hedgehog said, cocking her head.

"Yes, you." Tails said flatly. "Or would you rather me call you by your name? I assume that's what you're getting at."

"Naturally."

"Fine then…" Tails sighed. "Marvel."

"Hee hee…" The girl snickered, before she began coughing again. "Guess I overdid it that time."

"That time?" Tails was curious.

"Yeah. For some reason I can't sing very long in the rain. Every time I do I end up drowning whenever I hit a high note. It's quite bothersome."

"Normally, people don't sing in the middle of a storm." Tails sounded annoyed. "That is, normal people."

Marvel stared at him with a hard expression. "And I'm not normal?"

"How could you be? After what you did today, I find it hard to believe that you're normal at all."

"Is that so?"

"Who starts a fight in the middle of a café like that? You could have seriously hurt someone you know! Not to mention what you did to Amy! Sure she was deranged but you didn't need to hit her like you did!"

"All's fair in love and war."

"This isn't love OR war!" Tails found himself yelling again.

"I beg to differ." Marvel said, swing her arms behind her back and smiling. Tails found it very hard to continue his rant with the girl smiling like she was. She looked so innocent just standing there, and like before, he found that he was the only one who was getting riled up with little or no catalyst at all. Suddenly, Marvel's smile disappeared, and she took a deep breath and sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry 'kay?"

"W-what?" Tails was surprised by her sudden change in tone.

"I didn't mean to cause a lot of trouble for you. That was never my intention."

"I have a hard time believing that." Tails turned his back to her. "I've had to deal with a lot as of late. And most of it has a lot to do with you. I can't find any logical reason as to why someone would even do the things you do. You're this enigma that I just can't figure out. Annoying and …suffocating at the same time. I try to clear my mind of you, **constantly**…but somehow, you resurface again."

"In other words, you can't stop thinking about me."

Tails stiffened a little. She had hit the nail right on the head, and there wasn't really any point in denying it. Even Frank could tell that there was someone on his mind. If it was that obvious, then it only had to be true. "I guess so…"

"You look a lot like him, you know…" Marvel said, her jade green eyes locking dead center onto his blue ones.

"A lot like who?"

"I guess I should have told you this from the beginning. Maybe then we wouldn't have gotten off to such a bad start."

"Told me what?" Tails began to grow impatient.

"I briefly mentioned before why it was I came here to this place."

"You mean you're not from around here?"

"Far from it. I mean **very** far from it. It's kind of hard to explain."

"Huh?"

"Either way, I told you that I came here to find someone. Someone who I…well…uh…once fell in love with. Though you initially got the wrong impression and thought I was talking about you, which is ok because c'mon, who wouldn't want this?" Marvel said, running her fingers down her chest. "The truth being, I was actually talking about someone else."

"Oh…I see." Tails muttered. "That's a relief. You weren't interested in me at all."

"A long time ago, when I was younger, I met this man. A foxy guy, just like you. It was love at first sight. I followed him everywhere. Even got into some scary situations because of it."

"This sounds familiar…" Tails said.

"But, like all little girl's dreams, they were meant to be crushed. I was just too young for him to be taken seriously whenever I tried to confess to him. But eventually, I got my point across…

* * *

_Flashback_

Marvel found herself running through a large field of flowers, not really sure where it was she was going. She couldn't even see over them. The stems continued to whack her in the face as she advanced, but the small stings didn't seem to bother her. There was something more important that she needed to concern herself with. As she finally made her way out of the Forrest of dandelions, she fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Her red dress covered in petals and pollen. She continued to sit there, until a large shadow overtook her. As she looked up, she met eyes with an older figure. A fox, wearing light armor and a crossbow slung over his shoulder. "You're still following me?"

"I….I told you…." Marvel tried to say, but she found it increasingly harder to breathe. "That….I…I can't….breathe….."

"That's because you're allergic to Dandelions." The fox said. "I chose this path on purpose."

"But…I won't…."

The Fox couldn't help but laugh at the small hedgehog. Whether it was out of admiration that she would go that far just to follow him, or whether it was because of how pathetic she looked. Either way, he patted her on the head and grinned. "You're really something else, you know that Marvelous?"

"My daddy always tells me that I'm a hard head."

"That's not really something to be proud of."

"It means I'm gonna follow you forever!"

"Forever, huh?" he laughed again.

"Yup! I'm gonna keep following you until you get sick of me!"

"That happened two years ago."

"What?"

"Nothing." The man sighed. "I guess I'll never get rid of you, huh?"

"Nope! Not never!"

"It's hard to find someone so committed these days. So how about I make you a promise."

"What kind of promise?"

"Well…" the fox said, picking Marvel up and lifting her onto her feet. He brushed her off and placed a hand on her shoulder, kneeling to look her in the eyes. "There are a lot of things going on right now. I wish it were easy, but I can't protect everyone from here. So I want you to become strong and protect the village while we're gone."

"You…you really mean that?" Marvel's eyes grew wide

"I do. You're a brave girl Marvelous. One of the bravest and strongest I know. Honestly, if it weren't for you, the rest of us would have been in some serious trouble sometimes. Though most of the time it's usually you who force us to get into said trouble in the first place."

"Yeah…"

"So, I'll promise you this." He said taking her hands into his. "When you become older, then we can be together."

"You mean you'll marry me?"

"I didn't even mention marriage…"

"That's what being together means, right?"

"Granted marriage would be the only thing to satisfy your parents…I can see your point."

"Then when I'm older, we can get married, right?"

"Right, Marvelous…you're absolutely right." The fox found himself laughing. "I'll be waiting on you." He said, standing up and walking away. Marvel watched as the distance between them grew farther and father.

"And if you don't come back, I'll track you down to the ends of time!" She yelled at the top of her voice. The fox simply lifted his hand and waved. That would be the last time Marvel would ever see him.

* * *

Tails stood there, silent. The rain continued to batter them, but neither seemed to even acknowledge its presence. "So…you never saw him again?" Tails asked her.

"One day, he just disappeared. That's what everyone I knew told me at least. I don't really know what happened to him."

"It sounds like the two of you were pretty close."

"Like two peas in a pod, except I was the last pea in the pod and he was like, the first or second one."

"I…see?"

"I remember everything about him. His face. The way his hands felt. And the look in his eyes. They were the same look that I saw that night when we first met. That's when I knew…my search was finally over. I had finally tracked him down, and there was nothing that was going to take us apart again."

"So that's it…" Tails sighed. "I'm sorry, but there's no way I could be the person you're looking for."

"Maybe so. But I would never mistake you for someone else if that was the case. I believe you are the one I'm looking for. And nothing will make me believe otherwise."

"You're very adamant about this, aren't you?"

"You did promise you'd marry me."

"I did no such thing!" Tails yelled. "I haven't even met you before today!"

"Then what do you call last night?"

"That was earlier this morning!"

"Oh, so **now **it was earlier this morning."

Tails palmed his face, which was already wet, and he only succeeded in making it even more so. "Listen…this is just crazy. There's just no reason behind this. There's no way I can be the person you're talking about. There's no explanation for it. I've never met you, and I'm sure I'd remember if I told someone I would marry them."

"Maybe you hit your head."

"I highly doubt that's the problem!"

"Maybe you have amnesia."

"Are you listening to me!"

"Or maybe you just….just…"

"Just what?"

"Just…just…" Marvel's eyes squinted, and she slowly raised her head while bringing her hands close to her face. "Just…JUST…HACHOOOO!"

"Uh…gesundheit?"

Marvel wiped her nose on her forearm, sniffing and suddenly clutching her body. She found herself shivering uncontrollably, probably due to the fact that she had been out in the rain for three hours. Her clothes were soaking wet beyond all belief, and Tails could only wonder why someone would want to continue putting themselves in such a situation. "Yeah, ok, it's cold." Marvel said, before letting loose another sneeze.

"That's what you get!" Tails walked up to her. "No one told you to stay out in a storm like this! Are you crazy?"

"More or less." Marvel said, before letting loose a series of nostril-slammers.

Tails, disgusted by her show of saliva and mucus spraying, shook his head and held out his hand. "Come on."

"Huh?" Marvel looked at him surprised.

"I said come on!" Tails leaped up onto the lower tier of the large fountain, still extending his hand.

"Does this mean…" Marvel grew teary-eyed. "That you really care about me?"

"No. You're standing on top of a water fountain in a thunderstorm drenched to the bone like a drowned rat in the middle of the plaza and people are starting to look through windows! Now hurry up and get down from there!"

"I won't hate you for saying that." Marvel stared at him. She ran her hands through her…hair? Quills? Whatever they were at this point, and stretched her arms straight out. Tails wondered what she was up to, until he saw her raise her head and place her feet together. There was simply no way she could be that stupid could she? A second later, Marvel jumper into the air, and began her thirteen-foot dive into the arms of the fox below her. If he actually could use both of his arms, that would have been the case. But Tails didn't have much time to think about that as he was genuinely knocked out of character when the girl came crashing down on him. A large splash ensued, followed by the sounds of mad splashing and gargling. As he quickly began to regain his composure and realize the water was only ankle deep, Tails sat up, noticing that he pink hedgehog, who was face first in the water, had somehow managed to piss him off more so than she ever had before.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" the boy roared. "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!"

There was no response from the girl, and Tails, trying to ignore the heavy rain in his eyes that lacked protection from his now missing hat, noticed the small bubbles coming from the general area of her face. He flipped the girl onto her back, raising her out of the water. "Are you listening to me! Stop kidding around!"

When the girl still showed no signs of movement, Tails began to worry. "Hey! Marvel! Come on, this isn't funny!"

Still no response. He reached up and forced open her right eye with his fingers. The common signs of unconsciousness were clearly evident. Diving from a fountain that big would probably knock anyone out. As Tails struggled under her weight, he leaned back and stared up into the grey sky. "This is my punishment for something, isn't it…?"

* * *

Tails dipped the cloth into the pot of water and wrung it out a little. He folded it up and brought it over to the girl who was lying beside the fireplace. He placed it over her forehead, which was showing the signs of her running a very high fever. He adjusted the blanket over her and sat down beside her. Marvel looked peaceful when she slept. This was something he thought he'd never see. Twice, anyway. He glanced over at the set of clothes hanging over the chair on the other side of the room. That was the most embarrassing thing he had to ever do. Of course, carrying an unconscious girl 4 miles in the rain was no different. But he knew that leaving her in those wet clothes would have just made things worse for her. And it wasn't like he hadn't seen her naked before. In fact, the sight of her body the second time around made his little fox mind wander a little. But he shook the thought from his head. Now wasn't the time to think of such things. The girl was sick. He hoped it was nothing but a cold, but she was out in the rain a pretty long time. Her breathing was irregular, and her body continued to sweat uncontrollably.

A whole day rolled by, and nothing changed. She just continued to lay there. Tails didn't know if he should call a real doctor and get her some professional help, or to take care of the situation himself. As he looked out the window, the weather had calmed down a bit. Things looked like they would be going back to normal real soon. But Marvel's condition remained the same. Soon, a day turned into two, and then three. She would wake up occasionally, sometimes in the middle of the night. Tails would take that opportunity to give her some homemade soup he had prepared. But even so, she was never really conscious of the fact that she was eating. And not soon afterward, she was back down for the count. But none the less, Tails sat there with her, by her side the entire time. He wondered if everything she had told him was true. And if so, how would he be led to think of her? Sure, she lied to him about the truth of what happened that night at the club. But was she doing it so that he wouldn't have learned the embarrassing truth about how he had behaved? And if so, It didn't seem like she was making any of it up. At first glance, she was just your average ditsy young girl who just so happened to be accident prone. But now he realized that there was probably more to her than he could have ever imagined. He for one knew what it was like to fall in love with someone, only to never see them again. Or worse, be betrayed by them. And he could almost understand why she acts the way she does. It was most likely just a means of escape. A way to forget about the past and move on. And now he knew that he may well serve as the one piece that would fill that gaping hole in her shattered heart. As he looked at her, he could see the glittering remains of tears in her eyes. Sighing, he began to think that maybe she wasn't that bad of a person. And then, he realized something.

Maybe Marvel was right. Maybe they **were** destined to be together. He thought about all the other relationships he had, which was pretty much one, and how they all turned out. He was just a young sidekick to the planet's greatest hero. And everyone he loved, or thought he did, ended up turning their hearts toward Sonic instead. When it came down to it, he was just too young. Everyone had their respective others, and their own love triangles. But he was always the odd one out. He was convinced that there was no one for him out there at that time, so he stopped hoping for one, and stopped looking. Since his earlier heroic days, he distanced himself away from the female heart, and thought of nothing more than living his life without much worry for romance. But here it was, the opportunity he thought never existed. Here, this girl was literally throwing herself at him, and he wanted nothing more than to push her away. But what if she didn't really know what love was? What if she was just confused and wanted someone to cling to? She was just a kid when she made that promise after all. How was she to know that this was true destiny? But then again, how was he to know? So many questions ran though his mind and he was so much in thought that he didn't realize the pair of jade green eyes staring at him. "WAH!" Tails jumped backwards, landing on his back.

Marvel tiredly laughed. "Am I that ugly…?"

"N-no." Tails said, picking himself back up. "I was just surprised, that's all."

"That's reassuring."

"How do you feel?"

Marvel closed her eyes and frowned. "I think you way you put it was a drowned rat"

"I'm not too sure what that is myself…but ok."

"What happened to my clothes?" She said, lifting the blanket and staring underneath. Tails stiffened as he pointed over to the chair.

"Umm, t-they're over there."

"So…you undressed me?"

"Don't get the wrong idea! I did it because you were wet."

"That's generally why you take a girl's clothes off, yes."

"No, I meant the clothes! **They** were wet!" Tails corrected himself. Obviously he sent the wrong message. But only Marvel could take a completely innocent sentence and turn it into something completely wrong.

"I see…"

"You were out for a few days. I think it may have been pneumonia. But you should be fine now."

"You mean you stayed here and took care of me?"

"Well, it was still storming outside, so…and I couldn't risk moving you to the hospital. The… cops may still be out looking for us. Yeah, that's it."

"Yeah…right…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing…" Marvel smiled. "I'm really glad…that you did though…"

"Uh…" Tails scratched his cheek, blushing. "Well, thanks, I guess. It was the least I could do. After I, you know…kept you out in the rain and yelled at you. I'm sorry for all that…"

"Don't worry about it. You were right."

"No. I wasn't. I shouldn't have been so rude to you. I realize that now, and I apologize."

Marvel reached up with her hand and brushed it against his cheek. She stared deeply into his blue eyes and smiled. "Don't try to be so noble."

"What?"

"You heard me" Marvel said, looking to the ceiling. "I was wrong to do what I did. I mean, the whole situation at the club and what not. And It's not my place to force my belief onto someone else. Especially someone as nice as you. I guess I was just looking for a way out…you don't deserve any of the trouble I've caused. And I…don't deserve someone like you."

"Marvel, that's…." Tails thought about it. "That sounds strange coming from you."

"What was that?" The girl said immediately, glaring at him.

"I mean, what you're saying. It sounds nice and all, yeah…but after being around you this long, it doesn't seem like something you'd say."

"I'm trying to sound like one of the girl's from those TV soap operas! I'm trying to pour my heart out to you! The least you can do is act like the typical male in that situation and somehow steer this towards sex!"

"Wait, what?"

"I'm already naked here, what else do you want?"

"I think this conversation went in the wrong direction."

"If the conversation went south, it's going in the **right** direction."

Tails sat there for a moment, confused. But then, his expression changed. He actually smiled. Soon, he began chuckling to himself, which now confused Marvel. "What's so funny?"

"That's the kind of talking I remember from you best."

"And that would be?"

"The ones that don't make any sense."

"Watch it."

Tails continued to laugh, much to the dislike of the girl lying on the floor in front of him. Soon, he had had his fill of laughter and stood to his feet. Walking to the opposite side of the room, he slid up the blinds to let the warm sunlight in. The storm had long since ended, and the sun was now beginning to shine brighter than it had ever seemed to before. It felt kind of refreshing to him. As he looked back at Marvel, he grinned. "I know this is going to sound awkward coming from me, but…how about you stay here for a while?"

"Huh?" Marvel said, surprised. "But I thought…"

"Like I said, I was sorry for what I said earlier. But over the past few days, I grew to realize that…maybe there is a reason you're here. Maybe everything I went through was just a way to show me that I don't have to be alone anymore. That there actually is someone out there who won't betray me like others did."

"So you're saying…you'll actually let me stay with you?"

"Well, you said it yourself. You were a homeless maid, so I take it you wouldn't have anywhere to go anyway. So, in a way…yeah…I guess that's what I'm saying. If you still want to, that is."

Marvel's face lit up in a way Tails had never seen it do so before. She quickly stood to her feet, prancing over to him and throwing herself at him. Tails screamed as they crashed and went down to the floor in a heap. Marvel sat on top of him, with her right hand to her forehead in a salute. "Then I, Marvelous R. St. Vanderburgh, hereby decree that I will remain by your side for however long I can!"

"That's nice but do you have to crush me to tell me that!"

"Are you saying I'm fat!"

"You're not wearing any clothes! Have you forgotten that!"

"Be a man, will you!"

Tails, though being crushed, found himself laughing again. And as he looked up and the continuously rambling pink hedgehog on top of him, he thought that maybe there really was a chance for him to be happy. But it came from the most unexpected of people.

"This just might be interesting."


	6. Morning Sickness

**Characters Thus Far**

Miles "Tails" Prower – Has never had a female stay in his house before.

Marvel St. Vanderburgh – Can't cook to save her life.

**A/N: Another chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

Tails lay undisturbed in his bed that morning. The past few days had really taken the energy out of him. Staying up late, taking care of Marvel. Not to mention cooking. Tails **never** cooked. In fact, it was one of his least favorite things to do. He didn't even know what was still in his refrigerator, nor if he even **had** a refrigerator to begin with. Luckily for him, it was just soup. Otherwise, there might have been an international accident. Regardless, the point of the matter is, he was exhausted. And sleep was the only thing he really cared about. But his perfect slumber wouldn't last very long. It was never really fated to anyway.

"BANG! BANG! BANG! RISE AND SHINE!"

Tails leaped out of bed so fast the sheets never really had time to track him. The fox scurried over to the wall and pressed his back against it; his eyes wide open and his chest pounding. On the opposite side of his bed stood the all too familiar sight of a pink hedgehog in a black maid outfit, carrying a small gong in one hand, and a wooden spoon in the other. "What the heck was that for!" Tails screamed at her.

"Time to wake up, Captain McSleepy Pants." Marvel said with a cheery smile.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I'm sure your heart must be a great fighter then."

"What?"

"You're still alive aren't you?"

"I never understand what it is you're saying…"

"Yeah that happens a lot."

As he found his heart rate slowly going back to double digits, Tails sat back down on his bed and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it anyway?"

Marvel walked over to his windows and opened all of the curtains. The strong sunlight instantly beamed through, forcing the fox to squint madly. "It's almost past noon. You've been sleeping quite a while."

"I guess I was just pretty tired." Tails exclaimed.

"Tired isn't the word I was thinking of." Marvel said, coming to sit down by his side. "You took care of me all this time, even if it meant you got little sleep."

"Well…I, you know…" Tails tried to say, but found himself flustered. "It was nothing."

"Nothing to you maybe. But to me, it meant that I am indebted to you!"

"Huh?"

"I couldn't let what you did go without repaying you. That's why I took the liberty of doing a little something for you in return."

"Why do I not like the sound of that?"

"Sheesh, are you like this to everyone?"

"Only you…"

"I don't hate you for that."

Tails felt like there was something ominous behind that cute little smile Marvel was wearing, but decided not to think more into it. What's the worst she could possibly do to him that wasn't already done? Over the past few days, he's been in more awkward and painful situations than all of his life fighting as Sonic's so-called sidekick. He rubbed his head and stared at the floor. "Alright, what is it that you "owed" me?"

"Breakfast." Marvel said with a cheery grin.

"Break…fast?" Tails shot a glance at her, confused. "How in the blazes did you make breakfast?"

"The same way you make lunch and dinner. You cook it."

"I know you cook it. I'm asking **how** did you make it? I don't remember having anything **to make **anything."

"True. It's quite sad that the only thing of value to me was half eaten pizza slices and orange soda."

"Come again?"

"Your diet is laughably horrible."

Tails narrowed his eyes at marvel, who only seemed to take that as a challenge to stare back at him. The grin she wore before was gone, and she suddenly looked a bit more on the serious side. But truth be told, he couldn't deny that she was right. He was rarely ever home, and when he was, the majority of his time took place in his workshop. He can't even remember the last time he went grocery shopping for himself. Usually all of his food came from Sonic's expenses of chilidogs and soda. Not a very good diet at all. "Ok, so I'm not exactly the healthiest person on the planet. What's the problem?"

"We're going to change that."

"We?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten what we discussed already?"

"And that would be…?"

"If I'm going to be living with you, there's going to have to be some changes around here."

"Whoa, hang on, wait a minute!" Tails threw his arms out in protest. "What do you mean if you're going to be living here!"

"You heard me, foxy. I'm staying with you now. Don't tell me you've changed your mind already?"

"When did I ever say that you could….oh…." Tails palmed his face, suddenly remembering the event that took place just the other night. "I did say that didn't I…."

"Yup, you suuuuuuuuuure did!" marvel placed her hands on her hips. "And sorry to say, but the way you live is a total mess. I can see why you don't have much company."

"Can it, will you…" Tails sighed. "I'm not really worried about how my house looks."

"Do you even know how it looks yourself?"

"Uh…"

"I'm taking that as a no."

"Listen, I don't even stay here much. I'm always out doing other things. I don't have time to play "home decorator" or "Mobius' Next Top Chef" or something."

"Why don't you just come downstairs and see."

"See what?"

"Your house of course."

Tails' jaw dropped when he saw the look of his small, but well-furnished home. Everything that had been so overlooked and drab had been completely transformed into any man's dream of a perfect place for living. Or something like that. The windows were open, letting in the bright sunlight and cool breeze. The wood floors were so polished that he could see his reflection as if looking in a mirror. The bookcases were dusted to perfection, the sofa was patted and had apparently been steam cleaned. And in the center of the room, was a round table, with a floral centerpiece and an arrangement of silverware, set like only an expert could set. Tails was truly baffled by the way his home looked, but even more so as to how it was all done. He turned to look at Marvel, who was beaming with happiness. "Did you do all this?"

"Who else?"

"But…but…that's just not possible…"

"You already forget what I did to your room?"

"Point made…"

"Now, quit being such a noodle-eye and sit down before your breakfast gets cold." Marvel said, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him into his seat at the table.

"I don't see any food." Tails said, annoyed, staring at the empty table mat in front of him. Just then, Marvel came twirling out of the kitchen with a single plate balanced on her left hand. She spun around continuously, humming, until she eventually made it to the table. Laying the plate in front of him, and clapping twice, she raised one leg in the air and glared at him.

"Bon Appetit."

"Huh?" Tails stared at her. He looked down at the dish before him, then back at Marvel. "You're kidding, right?"

"You don't like it?"

"It's an egg." Tails said with disappointment.

"Eggs are very nutritious, and they're a great way to start off your morning!"

"It's…an egg." Tails said to her again.

"I know that."

"Listen to me. It's an egg."

"How many times are you going to repeat that?"

"Until you realize you've given me an egg."

"You won't eat it?"

"EGGS ARE COOKED!" Tails yelled, picking up the oval object in his hand. "THIS IS NOT COOKED!"

"Does it need to be?" Marvel looked at him, confused.

"Yes!"

"Oh…I see…so that's where I went wrong…"

"What do you mean "where you went wrong"?"

"Heh heh heh….you see…um…" Marvel said, scratching her face. "I tried making you a really big breakfast, ya know…but….that didn't work out too well…."

"Hwat?" Tails said almost as instinct. Marvel looked at him for a few seconds, debating whether what just flew from his mouth was an actual word or not, but dismissed the idea.

"Yeah…just eat the egg."

"I can't eat this!"

"You'll be surprised what you can do when there's nothing left to eat."

Tails and Marvel stared at each other in an awkward silence that filled the entire room. That moment lasted for a good two minutes before Tails finally cracked. "How much of my food did you destroy?"

"A lot."

"I figured as much."

"You're a fast learner."

"That was supposed to last me for another month."

"Honestly, I don't think you would've eaten it."

"And that's because…"

"It was old."

"How old?"

"I'm talking mold here."

"And you tried to cook it anyway?"

"I picked the mold off."

"IT WAS STILL BAD!"

"Was it?"

Tails looked back down at the egg in his hand, and a sudden fear crept over him. He had forgotten what his fridge had even looked like. Surely, the soup he had made Marvel the past few nights were things he had spares of. Soup was something of a dish that needed no cooking experience, something he didn't have anyway. Still, the egg before him rose more questions. If everything in the fridge was bad, what of the egg he was supposed to consume for his breakfast? He looked it over. Sure enough, it was white. Didn't look like anything was wrong with it. It looked like an egg. Smelled like an egg. But if Marvel had already gotten her hands on it, it probably wasn't an egg anymore. Tails took the egg and slowly cracked it over the edge of his plate. It didn't take long for the cracks to multiply and for the contents of the white-shelled object to begin pouring out onto the saucer. But at that instant, tails witnessed as the supposed-to-be yellow inside of the egg came out a lumpy brownish-green disaster. It slomped onto the plate, a few bubbles popping here and there. The fox was hit with a wave of putrid odor, something like that out of years and years of compost drying in the hot sun. In an instant, he toppled over in his chair and slammed onto the floor.

"Is that what and egg is supposed to look like?"

"What…do…..you…THINK!" Tails said, before having to clutch his mouth after feeling a bit of wash leap up to his throat.

"I'm guessing no."

"You tried to feed that to me!"

"Like I said, I made do with what I had. If the food in the fridge were 5 months past their sell by dates, that's on you."

"Didn't you check first!"

"I just said 5 months."

"You're…impossible…" Tails said, taking the plate and throwing it in the trash. "And now I have no food. Aren't you supposed to be a maid or something?"

"That, I am."

"And you can't cook?"

"Didn't say I was a good one."

"Ugh…Never mind. Now I'm hungry AND I feel sick…"

"But you didn't eat the egg."

"Looking at it was bad enough."

"So what do you suggest?"

Tails sighed, rubbing his head. "I guess we'll have to go to the market to get some more food."

Marvel leaped up at down at the older boy's proclamation. "YIPPEEE!"

"That's nothing to get happy over. You owe me an entire month's worth of food. Old or not."

"Haven't I done enough?"

"Obviously…"

"Tch…can't win for losing with you…"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Well, let's go then." Tails said, picking up his wallet from the bookshelf and heading to the door. Marvel sauntered after him. Leaving his house, he noticed something odd. An enormous pile of black trash bags piled on the side of the large trash can. He knew it wasn't trash collection day, and all of that stuff wasn't there recently. He looked at Marvel with a dangerous glare, and she only seemed to retaliate by avoiding eye contact. "Do I even want to know?"

"I told you, it didn't work out well."

"My fridge alone couldn't house that many things…"

"Yeah, when I said I tried **everything**, I kinda meant it."

Again, an awkward silence passed between the two of them. Tails narrowed his eyes and suddenly began to walk off on his own. Nothing needed to be said at that point. Marvel quickly paced to catch up with him, and the two of them headed towards town. If only Tails knew what he was getting himself into. Another day with Marvel, meant another fore coming disaster. The question this time was, could it possibly kill him. Only time will tell.


	7. Milk Crisis

**Characters Thus Far**

Miles "Tails" Prower – Doesn't visit his parents very often.

Marvel St. Vanderburgh – A Hedgehog like nothing else?

? – Someone you obviously don't want to mess with.

**A/N: Another chapter, much longer than the last one. Had an explosion of creativeness along time ago, and this is what resulted. Read and enjoy.**

* * *

"My mother gave me a nic-kel, to buy a pic-kle. I didn't want that pickle, I want some bubblegum! A-umba um-ba um-ba! A-umba um-ba um-ba!"

"Would you knock off the singing" Tails said to Marvel, who continued to twirl around in circles like a ballerina. He was surprised she could do that, and sing, and still be able to follow him at the same time. Then again, Marvelous St. Vanderburgh did things that usually defied logic. It was beginning not to surprise him anymore.

"Oh, don't be such a sourpuss." The pink hedgehog said, doing three leaps into the air before twirling back into position. She came up close behind Tails and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Try to have some fun."

"I'll consider fun after I get something in my stomach. Or need I remind you?"

Marvel let go of him and pouted. "Fine, whatever."

The two of them continued their journey through town until they reached the market square. If it were anything like a large supermarket of food and other useless junk, that would be the place. Marvel's eyes lit up as she saw the various vendors harassing passersby to buy their produce. One guy even got tackled just a few feet away from the entrance. "It's crowded today, try not to get separated. And don't get involved with whatever happens or do anything too reckless either. It tends to get pretty out of control."

"Tch, I'm not afraid of that." Marvel scoffed.

"That's what I feared…" Tails murmured to himself. Taking the younger girl aside, he took the opportunity to give her the rundown of their situation. "Alright, here's the plan."

"You need a strategy to pick up food items?"

"No…not really. I guess it's just old habits."

"You mean fighting." Marvel asked him. Tails sighed and nodded.

"Can't be helped I guess."

"Though I can see why it would fit this place so well." She said, witnessing two senior citizens fighting over a shopping basket. The mini-skirmish came to an end when another one entered the fray and immediately stole the basket of interest by tripping both older ladies with the rear of her mobile scooter. Marvel winced at the sight of the two old ladies crashing into a grape stand.

"Yeah…ignore that…for the time being, let's focus on just getting what we came for."

"And that would be?"

"I don't know. I really can't remember what I had to eat in the first place."

"Two jars of jam, one jar of peanut butter, a tub of butter, three oranges, four apples, seventy-seven grapes if you count the one under the sink though I don't think you want to get those now due to senior citizen crisis yea yonder, a loaf of wheat bread because wheat is good for you which was a wise choice on your part, lettuce, two tomatoes, a can of olives black or green; dealer's choice, salad dressing, peas, carrots, a packet of brown gravy mix and a roasting bag, two individual boxes of tea, a can of premium grade coffee, sugar, salt, pepper, various other spices I don't care to list, flour, vegetable oil, cucumbers, pickles, same thing but they really do taste different, meats, and of course a new carton of eggs."

Tails stared at Marvel, not sure whether he should be applauding her excellent form of memory, or her excellent form of memory at that given moment in time, when she usually never remembered the lesser important things for more than ten seconds. "You…remembered all that?"

"I burned or either destroyed them all, so yeah, I can remember."

"That's not something to brag about."

"One day, hopefully, it will be."

"Yeah….right…" Tails said, grabbing a shopping basket and entering the market. He hadn't been there in a while, but very few things had changed. people still operated out of wooden forgeries. Some upgraded to metal. And few others upgraded from metal to an actual building of sorts. That just goes to show you how traditional the people of the countryside were as opposed to those living in town. As he passed the vegetable stand, the older woman behind the register called out to him. She was a big, gray, wolf-like woman, with a plethora of beads and jewelry.

"Is that Miles I see?" She looked happy to see him.

"It is." Tails said, smiling. "And it's good to see you again, Ms. Trudy."

"How long has it been now, boy? At least a year?"

"Half of one is more accurate."

"My my, and you're getting so big! You know, I saw Rosemary here just last week."

"My mom? Really?" Tails was found to be a little more interested in the topic.

"Yessiree! She bought a whole lotta' stuff too. I'm guessing she's planning a banquet or something."

"So, she finally made it back into town from her trip, huh…" Tails murmured. "Wonderful…"

"And who's this beautiful little lady behind you?" Trudy asked him. Tails had almost completely forgotten about Marvel, who wasn't really paying attention to them as she was to a new fight that sprang up a couple of vendors down.

"This is, uh…" Tails hesitated for a minute. "This is…Marvelous…she's, uh…"

"Oh now come on, don't be shy about it! Is she your girlfriend?"

"W-What? Uh, No, it's not like that!" Tails was embarrassed to say. "She's just…a friend. Yeah, that's it."

"A friend eh?" Trudy eyed him. "Since when did you ever start having such cute friends? You're getting older and older all the time aren't you?"

"I'm not a kid anymore. I guess I can't deny what you're saying."

"I bet not. Well here, take this." She said, putting a few heads of corn in his basket. "These are on me."

"Wow, are you sure? I mean, I can't just take them."

"Now now, don't you worry yourself about it. I can tell there's a lot more going on between you and that beauty over there."

"Over there?" Tails wondered, turning around to where Marvel was standing before. Of course, she wasn't in that same spot anymore or anywhere near him for that matter. He looked around for her until he spotted her yelling and cheering as a skirmish broke out between a shop owner and a vagabond who tried to steal his melons. Tails gritted his teeth and groaned as he turned back to face the older wolf in front of him. "Uh….yeah…"

"Hahahaha! She's got some fire to her. I figured the two of you were here doing some shopping for a romantic picnic or something?"

"Not even close…"

"Ah, I see. None the less, you take those and go on. Don't worry about it. As much as you do for the people of this city we ought to be throwing food at you."

"Thanks, Ms. Trudy." Tails said, leaving the stand.

"No problem! And make sure you tell your mom hello!"

"Don't worry, I will!" Tails shouted back at her. When he was still facing her, he was the picture of a happy young lad, but as soon as his attention was to Marvel, it was the exact opposite. He rushed past her, grabbing her by the wrist and leading her away from the commotion. "Just what were you doing?"

"You should have seen it! That shop owner knows some pretty incredible submission locks. I have to know how he does those."

"Didn't I say not to get involved?"

"You saw me trip him?"

"Say huh?"

"Ok ok, so I tripped the guy when he tried to make a run for it, big deal. That's what you get for stealing."

"Why do I even bother…?" Tails said, frustrated. "C'mon, let's go before you hurt somebody else…"

"Okie dokie!" Marvel said, following behind him.

Within the hour, Tails had completed nearly all of the shopping from Marvel's so-called memory list. And she had no problem repeating anything she said whenever he couldn't remember. For that much, at least, he could truly appreciate the value of her company. As they picked up the last of the food supplies, Tails let out a long sigh, the empty basket he once carried now chock full of purchases. "Well, that about does it, I suppose."

"Hmmm…" Marvel said, riffing through the basket with her eyes. "Yeah, I'd say so."

"You'd say so, huh…"

"Yup."

"That's good enough for me. How about we get out of here now, I think the afternoon crowds are beginning to flock this place." Tails said, as he noticed a large number of people gathering near the entrance. However, Marvel saw the situation differently.

"I don't think they're here shopping."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because of that guy." She said, pointing to a large cow with a loudspeaker. He was wearing a business suit and sunglasses, and was supported by two other females in glittery red dresses. Tails wondered what the whole thing was about, but whatever it was, it was getting a lot of attention. It wasn't until he saw the sign above the man that he realized it. In an instant, his face lit up, and his day seemed to have gotten brighter.

"Can it be…!" Tails said with excitement.

"Can it be what?" Marvel asked him. But she didn't get time for an answer before he grabbed hold of her wrist again and lead her towards the large crowd of people. Once within the vicinity, they could easily make out the man's words over the loudspeaker.

"C'mon, c'mon! You know you want it! I know you want it! And you know that I know that you know you want it! Sounds confusing, I'm sure! But point being, you want this!"

The crowd burst into roars as the man began step-dancing on the tiny makeshift stage that he stood on. Marvel wondered if he would fall through due to his enormous weight, and the idea of it spread a large grin over her face. Tails on the other hand was completely into what the man was saying. "C'mon now, what it is that you want!"

"Dr. Soyfon's Mega Milk!" The crowd all said in unison.

"What was that!"

"Dr. Soyfon's Mega Milk!"

"I can't hear yooooouuuuu!"

"DR. SOYFON'S MEGA MILK!"

"Eh…" Marvel murmured. Nudging Tails on the arm, she leaned over and whispered to him. "What's this guy going on about?"

"It's a product that only comes out once every quarter of the year. It's made by this pharmaceutical genius named Dr. Soyfon. It's milk, but it has really potent medicinal uses as well. It makes whoever drinks it feel like they're on top of the world."

"And you would know all this because…"

"I used to have some all the time when I was a kid. But…"

"But?"

"After the whole Freedom Fighter thing, I didn't really get a chance to indulge myself in it like I used to. It's sort of an old habit that never died with me. I still love it till this day."

"I see…"

Just then, the two women beside the cow came down into the crowd and started passing out what seemed to be lottery tickets. They danced their way through the audience until they came to Tails and Marvel. They handed the both of them tickets, and danced their way back to the stage where the man was still doing his impressions of famous singer's iconic dances. Tails looked down at his ticket, then at Marvel's. He wasn't too sure what was going on, but he could tell what was going to happen. Tickets usually mean a raffle. And that usually meant that they were giving away bottles of product to the winners. To take part in a drawing for the milk made him cheery. Dr. Soyfon's Mega Milk by itself was too expensive to buy. Over the years, the price range rose sharply, making it something that not just anyone could afford. At that particular moment, he was glad that Marvel had destroyed all of his food; otherwise he wouldn't have had the opportunity to know about this event. And for him, it was the first time he knew of that her doing something bad eventually lead to something good. In his own standards, of course. While the cow continued to spout more of his mediocre announcer nonsense, Marvel became focused not on his ramblings, but on another peculiar sound. It sounded like someone was choking on something. She looked around for a few moments, before spotting an older woman kneeling on the ground a few feet away. Looking closer, she saw that the woman was tending to a baby carriage, which she now identified as the source of the horrible coughs and choking noises.

She had incredible hearing, one of her many remarkable traits that she can't remember ever acquiring on her own. Though it was rude to do so, she found herself eavesdropping on the woman's conversation. "Don't worry, sweetie. It'll be ok." Her voice sounded worried, and a little sad. "I promise you I'll get it."

Marvel wondered what she could be talking about, until she remembered what Tails had mentioned a few minutes earlier. The only thing she could have been talking about was the Milk. The child in the carriage sounded sick, and it would make sense that the mother would want the Mega Milk for that very reason. "Are you guys ready! We've got three giveaways this afternoon! Now let me know you want it!"

"YEAH! YEAH! YEEEEAAAAHHH!"

"Then let's GET THIS PARTY STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARTED!"

While the crowd cheered and applauded, Marvel remained lost in her own little world. The picture of the woman and her child took her mind on an unexpected trip to the past. It served as a heavy reminder that she had always lived without knowing that kind of feeling. The devotion of protection and love that could only come from a mother to her own child. The truth was, she had never known her mother, who died when she was still just an infant. Seeing the woman care so deeply for her child, it made her like she was missing something important in her life; motherly love. It was something that she always dreamed of having, but even if she did, she wouldn't be able to identify the feeling. She didn't think she could. After all, someone like her was incapable of feeling a sense like that. That's what she told herself, anyway. And she reminded herself of that every day, and every night. Just then, Marvel felt a strange sensation overcome her. It was if everything around her had stopped, but was still moving. Like time had stopped for her, but the entire world around her continued. The sounds around her became dim, and she could barely hear anything. She turned her attention slightly to the right, where a cat woman was leaping up and down, thrashing her raffle ticket around. She must have just won. But Marvel couldn't hear any of the commotion. She turned back to where the woman and her child were, and continued to stare at them. What exactly was the feeling she was getting? Sadness? Loneliness? She couldn't quite figure it out. But why would it get to her this much? Usually, she would just be her natural, carefree self. Or was that a mindset in itself that she forced herself to believe?

When someone hurts, they show their pain. Marvel had often forced herself to smile through anything that happened. But that wasn't happening so much right now, and the reason why bothered her. She felt a grin appear, but then disappear just seconds afterward. It seemed forcing herself this time proved ineffective. Just then, another inaudible rush of cheers and screams erupted. Someone else must have won. Reality seemed just a little closer now. That woman was looking forward to the Mega Milk to take care of her sick child. And the fact that she still kneeled, looking up at the announcer with hopeful eyes and nervously clutching her ticket, meant that she had not won either of the first two drawings. Marvel wished there was something that she could do to help the woman in this situation. But was there?

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand! For the final drawing this afternoon! We have this lucky winner! Would the person with numbe please come up and claim your prize!"

Tails looked down at his ticket, and he frowned. It wa 1, terrible luck on his part. He hung his head down, a little disappointed that he didn't win. "That's the story of my life…" he sighed. But as he looked up, he noticed that no one else was moving either. Surely there had to be a winner in the group. But whoever it was obviously didn't know they had won. The announcer looked confused, but then took his megaphone and shouted again.

"Winne 0? Are you out there?"

Tails used his logic to figure out the situation. It's common sense that the order of a raffle ticket roll all fall in sequential order. But since there were two individual rolls, that made it a little more complicated to tell who might have the winning ticket. But then he remembered something. The woman, who came to him, first went to Marvel. And if his number was one off, surely the winning ticket had to be the closest one next to him. He looked over at Marvel, who had her back turned to him. He didn't know what it was she was focusing on, but he touched her shoulder and called her name.

Marvel jumped back to her senses when she felt Tail's hand. Turning around sharply to face him, she wore a completely confused look on her face. She looked around for a moment, before realizing that most of everyone was staring at her. Deductive reasoning had obviously led them to also realize that if they weren't winners, the one who won was unaware of it. She looked back at Tails, who narrowed his eyes and pointed to the stage. "I think you won."

"Huh?" Marvel said, looking at her ticket. Sure enough, it wa 0. She didn't know what to say, or do. Everyone around her began a late cheer as they moved for Marvel to go and claim her victory. But she didn't seem all that happy to win. As she was seemingly pushed forward by the crowd, her look of complete bewilderment became more and more visible. Tails wished that it was him who won the raffle, but the fact came to mind that since he and Marvel are supposedly "living" together, he would get the milk anyway. A sly grin crept across his lips and he chuckled. Win or no win, he would still have that milk.

As she reached the stage, Marvel looked up at the large bovine gentleman and forced a crooked smile. He reached out his hand and took hold of hers, pulling her up onto the short platform. "And what's your name little lady?" He asked her. Marvel stood there for a moment before answering.

"Uh…it's Marvelous…Sir…"

"And would you look at that. She's shy!"

Everyone in the crowd began to laugh, but not out of the younger girl's embarrassment. The announcer patted her fiercely on the back, which grew to quickly annoy her. "No need to be shy, my girl! You've won! What would normally cost 600G you just got for free! Hey, that rhymed! HAHAHAHA!"

The crowd once again burst into laughter. Marvel still wore her confused smile. "It's that expensive?"

"It's quality grade stuff, miss! You can't find it anywhere but here!"

"I wish I had known that earlier…"

"And why is that?"

Looking back at the woman and her child in the rear of the audience, Marvel felt like she had the opportunity to do something good. "I can't take this."

"Huh?" The announcer said, shocked. "Why not!"

"Because…" Marvel was about to say, before she felt something cold press against her forehead.

It was there before she had even noticed it. The barrel of a machine gun. Fully realizing the situation, she noticed that the large announcer was sweating and looking as if he were about to cry. The two hostess' were clinging together, afraid, and the rest of the crowd were gasping and screaming. Tails dropped his basket, clenching his fists and suddenly growing angry. As Marvel looked up, she found a tall, masked figure in a black trench coat standing over her. "I'm afraid that's because we'll be taking it off of your hands."

"OH GAWD NO!" The announcer cried, dropping to his knees, which caused the whole platform to shake fiercely. "I'll give you anything! Money! My car! Just please don't hurt me!"

"We're not interested in you ya' fat piece of shit." Another masked figure appeared, taking his shotgun and striking the announcer in the back of the head. The large bovine crashed to the floor beside her, and Marvel suddenly grew tense.

"Now, now, now. We're not gonna' hurt you. After all, without consumers, what would happen to the market?"

"That's not very convincing." Marvel said with a staunch look. The man pressed the gun to her head a little harder, leaning down to look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. You mind saying it again?"

"You're two inches in front of me and you still can't hear?"

"You got a smart mouth on you, you know that?"

"That makes me generally smarter than you."

"You little…" The masked man said, growing agitated.

"STOP!" came a shout from the crowd. A second later, Tails came flying over to the stage and landed a few feet away. "Stop what you're doing right now!"

"Oh? And who are you?"

"Heeeeeey, I know him!" The other bandit said, waving around his gun. "That's that one fella' who's always with that Sonic guy!"

"No shittin'?"

"Yeah! This is bad boss! That guy's a Freedom Fighter!"

"Freedom Fighter or not, he aint doing **shit **if he wants this little bitch to keep her head."

Tails gulped. As cool as an entrance he made, he also leaped right into a troubling predicament. He knew marvel was strong. He'd seen what she could do. But when a gun is to your forehead, what could you possibly do then? He had no doubt of his own skills, but would it really be wise to start a fight with so many people still lingering around? And he was sure Marvel wasn't acting for the very same reason. Why they weren't running was anyone's guess. Just then, a large black van appeared and turned sharply, attempting to drift itself to a stop. Tails saw the incoming vehicle and leaped into the air just seconds before it slammed into the platform where he once stood. But the shock of the van hitting sent him flying back into the audience, where he plowed into a group of innocent bystanders. Three more masked men came out of the van and started loading the Mega Milk containers. It didn't take anyone long to realize that it was an apparent robbery. The boss, with his gun still to Marvel's head, raised his free hand and bowed to them. "Thank you all for being so understanding. You see, we have to take these off of your hands. I'm sure you'd understand our situation."

The bandit with the shotgun then proceeded into the crowd, where he was led to take the two remaining bottles from the previous winners of the raffle drawing. "I don't think you'll be needin' this either', hahaha!"

When all of the contents had been loaded onto the van, the driver leaned his head out of the window and tapped the side of his door twice. "Alright, boss, we're outta' here!"

"Music to my ears." The man said, carefully removing his weapon from Marvel and leaping onto the top of the vehicle. "Sayonara!" he said, laughing maniacally as the van sped away. Marvel look back at Tails, who was still trying to pick himself up after being tossed out of the air. But more importantly, she looked back to the mother and her child, who she saw grabbing the carriage and crying. Without a word, Marvel's expression darkened. She clenched her teeth and growled.

"There are a lot of things I can forgive. But this..."

"Marvel!" Tails yelled at her. "Are you alright?"

Marvel looked back at him briefly. The look she had was something Tails had never seen before. All traces of the previous girl had vanished, and were now replaced with something that resembled a caged animal that had broken out of its prison. "Stay here."

"Wait, what are you doing!" Tails yelled. Marvel took a sprinting position, with both hands out in front of her and one leg stretched out backwards. In an instant, a furious wind swept across them; as Tails witnessed the pink hedgehog disappear in a flash. "Wait…did she just use…?"

* * *

As they barreled down the forest road, the masked men in the van celebrated their successful robbery. Whether it was cool to celebrate robbing a milk stand or not, was completely debatable. But none the less, they completed their mission. "Man oh man! Did we ever look cool."

"Yeah! And that head shot was a nice touch."

"Head shots only count when someone dies from it, you moron." The leader said.

"Yeah yeah, sure sure."

"Um, boss…." The driver said in a bit of a panicked voice.

"If you're worried about running someone over, I really don't care."

"That's not it…"

"Then would you mind telling me what's so damned important!"

"THAT!" The driver said, letting go of the wheel and ducking. The rest of the group flipped around to see what exactly was going on in the front of the vehicle, but no sooner than they did, did they see a large, spinning object shooting straight for them. The sounds of screaming girls could be heard throughout the van, as they all hit the floor. Not even a second later, the top half of the van was ripped off as shards of sheet metal and glass flew everywhere. The van skidded to a halt, flipping on its side, and spilling most of the contents out onto the ground. The bandits fell out one after another, not sure what had just happened. But one thing was for certain, it wasn't going to end well. With weapons drawn, they looked around to see what it was that attacked them. But the only thing around them were trees.

"Boss, look at that!" One of the grunts said, turning everyone's attention towards the road behind them. They all gasped at the sight of a long steel object, planted into the ground. "That's the thing that hit us!"

"What is it?" The other asked.

"It looks like…a stop sign?"

"Is this some kind of joke!" The leader said, firing off a few rounds into the air. "Someone's messin' with us here! And whoever it is, is gonna be dead!"

"B-b-boss…." One of the grunts tried to say, stiffened by the sight before him.

"Don't they know who we are! We're the infamous Milk Bandits! The most feared villains this side of the planet!"

"B-boss!" The other two joined in."

"WHAT IS IT! WHAT! WHAT! WHAT!" The leader said, throwing a fit. His flunkies were all pointing to him. Or at least, behind him. Turning around sharply, he raised his rifle and fired…but hit nothing. Angry, and confused, he turned back to his crew and raged. "Are you messing with me too!"

"No boss! Right there! She's….!"

"Huh?" The masked leader said, turning around again. But again, there was nothing behind him.

Though he couldn't see what was going on, the others could see it clearly. Standing directly behind their boss was a pink hedgehog, clad in a black laced maid outfit. She followed every motion the figure in front of her did. When he turned right, she turned the same way. When he raised his gun, she pretended to do the same. And when he went to scratch his head, she simply yawned. "I don't get it! What's going on here!"

"Would you like me to tell you that?" A girl's voice said from behind them. Just as soon as they had looked, the pink hedgehog was no longer behind their leader, but was behind **them**.

Terrified, they all turned around and opened fire with their weapons. The hail of gunfire burned through the overturned black vehicle, which caused an immediate response from their leader. "YOU FOOLS! STOP! STOOOOOOOP!"

When they had finally calmed down, and had run out of ammo, they had realized what it was that they had done. Their getaway vehicle, as well as the cargo still on-board, were full of holes, and now apparently on fire. "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

"DAMNED IDIOTS!" The leader roared. "YOU USELESS BUNCH OF IDIOTS!"

"We're sorry, boss!" They all screamed.

"Not as sorry as you are about to be." Marvel said, her arms wrapped around two of their necks. They turned to look at her, and she smiled. A second later, she jumped into the air and their faces were met with two heels. They crashed to the ground like lifeless dolls. As soon as she landed again, Marvel twirled around twice before striking a stationary pose and clapping her hands twice like some sort of Salsa dancer.

"You!" The leader said. "You're the bitch from the market!"

"I really wish people would stop calling me that…seriously…"

"Take her out! NOW!" He ordered his remaining two lackeys to attack, but by the time their guns were raised in opposition, Marvel had already moved into striking range. The first bandit met his end when she immediately closed the gap between herself and him, bringing a hard elbow to his gut, spinning around, and axe kicking his face into the ground. His mask shattered upon impact. The second bandit fired off his shotgun, attempting to take her by surprise. However, Marvel leaped into the air, twisting and twirling like only an Olympic gymnast could do. She landed in front of him, reaching out with a single finger and flicking his gun. It ripped out of his hands and sailed into the air. He made the mistake of looking up at his wayward weapon, leaving Marvel to wind up a bone-shattering punch to his ribs. The bandit's painful shriek was silenced by the fact that he could no longer breathe. As he stood hunched over, Marvel performed seven back flips, before twirling on one leg, spinning back towards the bandit, and delivering a kick that sent him crashing through a nearby tree. The large piece of lumber struck the ground with enough force to cause a small tremor.

Staring at the leader, Marvel's innocent smile soon turned to a dangerously malevolent grin. The man took his gun and opened fire on her. However, she moved through each of his shots, stepping closer to him each time he missed. He was beginning to panic now, realizing that no ordinary person could do the things that this girl in front of him was doing. "Stay back! STAY BACK!" He roared, continuing to fire haphazardly. He kept up his frantic blaze of gunfire until the frightening sound of the magazine emptying fills the surrounding silence. Marvel was now standing right in front of him, her eyes burning holes through his mask. He tried to back away, but she grabbed him by the collar of his trench coat and dragged him back into a punch that shattered his mask and sent him flying onto the ground. When faced with the current predicament, there was only one thing he could attempt to do. Seeing as all of his subordinates were taken out of commission so easily, he feared that what she would do to him would be the worst of all. Scrambling back to his feet, he held out his hands and yelled. "Wait! Wait! Please, don't hurt me!"

"Isn't that what the fat man said too?" Marvel said, still coming closer to him. The weasel-faced bandit then reached into his jacket and pulled out a single bottle of Mega Milk, causing Marvel to stop in her tracks.

"This is what you want, right! RIGHT! Here! You can have it back! Just leave me alone!"

"Tough cookies guy. That alone won't detour justice."

"THEN WHAT!"

"I'm taking them **all** back. That milk belongs to the people, not to you. I will return with all of the milk, or none of it!"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Am I?"

"All of the other containers were on the van!"

"Hwat!

Marvel found herself stuck with a very peculiar look on her face, as seconds later, there was a large explosion in the background. The smell of burning milk and glass quickly filled the air, and as a few moments passed, her expression soured. "Tell me that didn't just happen…."

"It did…"

Walking up to the man, Marvel forcefully ripped the single bottle of Mega Milk from the weasel's hands. Promptly after, she spun around on her heel and crashed her boot into the side of his face. He spun out onto the ground instantly, unconscious. With single bottle in hand, Marvel sighed, and began her trek back towards town.

* * *

Tails found himself in the middle of a law enforcement investigation as the local police arrived to handle the scene. The fact that he was there made him a little more of a celebrity, but not a great one, seeing as how he was taken out of the action so quickly. And the fact that Marvel still hadn't returned bothered him a little. He would have gone after her, had he not been helping those still standing around after the bandits fled. After the police arrived, however, he was sure they could take care of the rest. His number one mission right now was to follow after Marvel, and make sure she didn't get herself into trouble. He leaped back onto the stage, preparing to fly off in the direction that she had gone, when he suddenly saw a lone pink figure sauntering back up the small hill. "Marvel!" He shouted, running to her.

"Meh…" the younger girl moaned.

"What happened? Why did you run off…eh…" Tails caught himself. "Wait, **how** did you run off like that?"

"You move your legs back and forth. It's called locomotion."

"That's not what I meant! I'm no expert at it, but I've seen Sonic and Shadow do it enough times. What you did back there…that was Chaos Control, wasn't it!"

"I don't know."

"You mean to tell me you don't even know what you did? How long have you been able to do that?"

"Always."

"Always?"

"Since I was a kid, yeah."

"Oh…." Tails murmured. He wouldn't deny that the speed at which the pink hedgehog ran might have even rivaled Sonic. But what he couldn't figure out how she was able to do it. There was no flash of light, nor was there any Chaos Emerald remotely close to her. Once again, Marvel proved herself as an enigma that Tails found it almost impossible figuring out. But for her to display such abilities, it was really quite the shock, and he wondered if all hedgehogs were just naturally capable of moving fast. Whatever the case, he looked at the single jar of milk in her hand and frowned. "What happened out there? Where's the rest of the container's that the bandits stole?"

"Blew up."

"What do you meant they blew up!"

"Just like I said, they blew up."

"And how'd you even get that back? Those guys had guns! And those were some pretty serious hardware they were using!"

"That's not really important." Marvel said, looking him in the eyes. Whatever had happened, she obviously didn't want to talk about it. Tails opened his mouth to say something else, but found that no words came out. Shutting it again, he sighed.

"Ok…sure…"

As they made their way back to the marketplace, Tails noticed as Marvel began looking around for something. He was about to ask her what she was looking for, but felt it safe not to even bother. When she had at last spotted what she searched for, which was shown by her expression, she raced over to a single woman, who was pushing a baby carriage. The woman looked sad, and a little rundown. But she was caught by surprise when Marvel confronted her. "Wait just a moment." the pink hedgehog said to her.

"E-excuse me?"

"I, Uh…" Marvel began to say, before she lost the nerve to.

"Hey…you're that girl from before."

"Yeah…"

"That must have been such a traumatic experience. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, actually. It wasn't that traumatic either."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'm glad that nobody got hurt too badly." The woman was about to continue, but was cut off abruptly when the child in the carriage began coughing. She leaned down to try and ease the baby's spell, but it took a great deal for him to finally calm down again. The woman finally looked back up at Marvel again and exhaled deeply. Sorry…but…I must be going."

"Wait. Before you go…er…"

"Yes?"

"Here. I want you to have this." Marvel said, handing over the single remaining jar of Mega Milk, which forced a small shriek from Tails. "You need it more than I do."

The woman looked at the jar, then back at Marvel, a complete look of surprise on her face. "You…no, I can't…I can't take that. It's yours. You won it fair and square."

"That's true. But if I leave knowing that I could have helped someone in need and didn't, I would have only lost to myself. That's something I cannot do."

Taken aback by her generosity, the woman found herself growing to tears, but quickly wiped them away. She took the Mega Milk, and stared down at her son. "Do you see that? This young girl was so kind enough to help us out. I told you, everything would work out in the end."

Marvel smiled, as the woman bowed humbly before her. Tails watched Marvel as she leaned over the carriage, smiling at the infant child, who was carelessly reaching up to grab her finger, despite being a little sick. She touched and tickled him, making funny faces and sounds. It was yet another side of her that he had found a perfect opportunity to witness. Yet the whole time, he couldn't help but realize how cute she looked. Where his mind had been the whole time she was around, he doesn't know. But for that moment, the atmosphere was set. In the midst of a happy event, Marvel had shown the ultimate kindness to a complete stranger. She had even faced danger just to make one person happy. That in itself, as well as how she looked so calm and happy as she played with the child, made her seem so interesting to him. He found himself smiling, and wondering just what it was he was missing out on. The feeling of being with someone that brings everyone around them happiness. He had long missed that feeling, and it seemed now that it was beginning to reappear. But in the last person he had expected it to.

Moments later, Marvel bid farewell to the woman and her child as they finally left the market to head home. Sighing, she walked back up to Tails, who was busy gathering the spilled groceries he had collected earlier. What hadn't been stolen or trampled anyway. As he stood back up, he looked at Marvel, who was looking a little confused. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. You're just…"

"I'm what?"

"You're smiling."

"Am I?" Tails thought, before realizing he was.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Oh...uh, well…."

"I'm sorry I couldn't get that Milk."

"That's not it. Besides, I'm just glad that you decided to give it to that woman."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Though this might be the first time I ever said it…you're a real kind person, Marvel…I like that about you."

"Of course I'm nice!" Marvel said, sticking her chest out and putting her hands on her hips. "It's a maid's duty to serve those around her, and help others who are in need! Whether we get paid for the job or not, we stick by our feelings and ride forward! Off into the sunset!"

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Hahaha." Tails laughed. "Yeah, and now we have no food again. Sorry to say, but what I managed to salvage from all the commotion isn't going to cut it for lunch. And I'm kind of out of money now, too…"

"Don't worry, I'll handle it." Marvel said, reaching into her blouse pocket and pulling out a 10,000G bill. Tails' jaw sank onto the ground when he saw it, and the fact that Marvel looked so nonchalant after whipping something like that out made him all the more shocked.

"T-t-t-that's….!"

"It's what?"

"THAT'S 10,000G!"

"Yeah."

"Where did you get that much money!"

"Oh this? Ha, that's just some spare change I keep around."

"SPARE?"

"I told you I was rich, didn't I?"

"You….uh….er…..uuuggh." Tails said falling over. Sure enough, living with Marvel was going to be a lot more interesting than he had ever imagined.

"I have a need for some waffle fries and a milkshake. What say you?"

"Heh heh…yeah….sure…"

* * *

The weasel, who had been so utterly humiliated before, lay in a fetal position on the floor of a great ballroom, as his subordinates, who were covered in bandages, stood by and watched. Terrified, they looked on as the female standing over their boss, paced back and forth, her stiletto heels clacking as she moved. Her large, black-laced overcoat twirled wherever she moved, and her long, white tail swung furiously. Looking down at the crumbled mess before her, she finally acted and kicked him again in the chest, forcing more cries of pain from the already injured bandit. "I gave you an easy mission." The snow white fox said, her blood red eyes clad with malice. "It was the simplest of missions. And yet, you still screw it up…"

"I'm…s-s-sorry….but….it wasn't…our fault…" The boss said through clenched teeth.

"I really don't want to hear your excuses!"

"He's telling the truth, mistress!" One of the lackeys shouted, which earned him an immediate kick to the face. She moved so fast no one even had the chance to see what had happened. A second later, he crashed to the ground, clutching his battered face and rolling in pain.

"He was telling the truth!" The weasel on the ground yelled out. "We were attacked…by this crazy bitch in a maid costume…."

Nothing he had to say before caught the girl's attention more than what he had just spewed from his mouth. The white fox looked down at him with interest and kicked him onto his back. "What did you just say? Say that again."

"It was…this girl…a pink hedgehog! She wore…" the weasel stopped, looking up at the girl who was standing over him. "She wore…an outfit…just like the one…you're wearing!"

"An outfit like mine…" The girl murmured.

"Lacy stuff…black…and she was ridiculously strong…we didn't stand a chance against her."

"A pink hedgehog…." The girl continued, walking away from him and traveling within her own thought. "No, it couldn't be her…..could it….?"

"I'm telling' ya Mistress! It's the truth!"

"Alright, alright, shut-up!" The girl screamed. "If what you are telling me is true…..Then I suppose your failure isn't **entirely** your fault."

"You mean it boss!" The weasel sounded almost relieved. The girl walked away from him, still training in her own thought.

"If it really is her…." The fox said, staring out the large window to the side of her. "Then it looks like I'm going to have to pay her a** personal** visit."


	8. The Goddess of Shopping

**Characters thus far:**

**Miles 'Tails' Prower - May or May not share Sonic's passion for Chilidogs**

**Marvel St. Vanderburgh – Is most definitely rich**

**Katz – A man of questionable sexuality**

**? – One word. Vixen. **

**A/N: Nother chapter, nother day. It's a chapter. Read it. Enjoy. And don't forget to Review!  
**

* * *

It was a very disturbing moment for Tails that morning. From what he could tell, something was definitely wrong with the pink hedgehog glaring at him from across the other side of the small, round table. She didn't look like she was in a pretty happy mood. Was it because he had woken up late again that morning? Or was it because he wasn't paying her much attention over the steaming bowl of oatmeal he was so happily ingesting? Either case was likely, but to him, it seemed that her frustration lay somewhere else. "What?" Tails finally broke the silence, after stuffing a spoonful of oatmeal in his mouth.

"You're naked." Marvel said bluntly.

"Uh…come again?"

"You, sir, are** naked**."

"I don't get it."

Marvel sighed, palming her face. "It's not that hard to understand. See, look at me." She said, standing up from the table and running her hands over her body. "I have clothes on. You, however, do not. Don't you think that's a problem?"

"I never really thought about it that much." Tails said, drinking his orange juice. "Is it odd?"

"You have shoes, yet no clothing?"

"Uh…"

"All the women around here wear clothes. Well…'cept for that squirrly-lookin girl."

"You mean Sally." Tails corrected her.

"Whatever. She has no dignity as far as being a woman."

"And you do?"

"I'll have you know, I am as dignified as they come! I have been trained so!"

"Trained you say?"

"My entire life hasn't all been a waste, I'll have you know! I am a maid for that very reason!"

"I thought maids were like…you know…Homemakers for hire. What's so dignifying about that?"

"You really just have to ruin the mood, don't you?"

"I'm terribly sorry." Tails said with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. He finished off his oatmeal and orange juice and sighed. "But just because I don't wear clothes doesn't make me un-dignifiedly."

"But you're still naked."

"Whatever!"

"If I'm going to be living here, there's going to have to be some changes."

"Again with that?"

"Let's go!"

"To where?"

"TO WHERE YOU FILL YOUR HEART WITH NON-PARISHABLE ITEMS!"

"You mean the mall."

"NATURALLY! …I think…"

"…And here we go…"

* * *

Mega Street Central Mall. A ridiculous name for such a ridiculously large shopping complex, located right in the heart of the city. Marvel's eyes lit up as she stared at the four-story kingdom of credit cards. Tails on the other hand, was beginning to regret ever coming along. But it wasn't like he had a choice in the first place. Marvel was bent on bringing him out for some new "threads" as she would put it. He was never truly conscious of the fact that he was considered "naked". It didn't really bother him. That's how everyone around him was. Even Sonic. Was wearing sneakers and nothing else that much of a mortal sin? Apparently, to Marvelous, it was very high on the blasphemy scale. But now that he came to think of it, there really wasn't anything Tails could wear. His closet at home was completely empty. Remained empty for as long as he's been alive. He can't even remember the last time he went clothes shopping. Probably because it never happened in the first place. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to do a little shopping. It was good to be outside, and not cramped in his workshop under the Tornado like he was all week. It was as good a time for a break as any. Plus, Marvel seemed to be enjoying herself as well, which was discovered by the way she started dancing around outside the parking lot as they entered the building.

As they walked, or danced, into the frigid mall, Tails instantly felt as though it were suddenly winter time. "Is it always this cold in places like this?"

"You wouldn't be cold if you were wearing clothes." Marvel said with a smirk. Tails grunted at her and continued walking.

"Well, where to first?"

"Hmmm…" Marvel thought for a moment. "You can't just start anywhere when you go shopping. You have to start at the right place, or the whole balance of power will shift out of control."

"Say huh?"

"It's like this. The Goddess of Shopping is a very great woman. She blesses those who make the right purchases when it's called for, but shuns those who make the wrong purchases. If you're caught making the wrong purchase, you'll end up in a situation that could be very, very, disastrous."

"Uh…huh…" Tails was becoming more and more confused. Obviously there was a divine order to shopping. Whether he believed the pink hedgehog or not, could not be answered at that time.

"So, in the Order of Causality, we should begin our quest thar!" Marvel said, pointing to a random store on the right.

"Marvel…that's a winter clothes shop."

"And your point is?"

"It's not winter." Tails glared at her.

"There's a cause for everything, young grasshopper." Marvel said, clasping her hands together and bowing. "You will too come to see the inevitability of shopping."

"Just get in the store." Tails said, leaving her and walking off.

**Sammy's Winter Accessories 10:45 AM**

Tails stood in front of the small rack that housed a plethora of winter scarves, that Marvel had been so dignified as to launch herself into. As she rummaged through price tags and plaid, she finally emerged a few minutes later with an item in tow. "Here put this on." she said, handing Tails the item in her possession. He stared at it for a moment before looking up at Marvel with a questionable look.

"You're joking right?"

"What?"

"I'm not wearing a scarf this time of year. You see anyone else wearing one?"

"This isn't about anyone else, love. This is about you. This is **your** style, so just put the thing on already!"

"How can you tell me what my own style is!"

"Because I don't expect a guy who's never even worn a t-shirt in his life to know what to pick out for himself!

"…Point made…"

"Just wear it!"

"Alright, alright…" Tails huffed, taking the scarf and throwing it around his neck. "There, you happy?"

"Not quite." Marvel said, walking behind him and fiddling with it. She pulled the longer ends in and under the part around his neck and tied them back so it'd fall behind him. He looked like one of those ace fighter pilots, with the bright red ascots. As she pulled him towards the mirror, he looked at himself and his brows raised a bit.

"…Interesting…" Tails murmured, swinging his head from side to side and watching the scarf twirl about. "I kind of like it."

"Good!" Marvel said, grabbing the end of the scarf and breaking into a sprint. Tails nearly choked when he felt the strong tug on the other end and suddenly being dragged away. Marvel pulled the defenseless fox all the way to the check out counter. As she grinded to a halt in front of the cashier, she slammed the end of the scarf on the counter, where the price tag instantly scanned. The teenage girl behind the counter gave her a weird look, before looking at the suffocating fox on the floor who was still connected to the item for purchase.

"That'll, uh…be 2400G please." The cashier said.

"2400!" Tails managed to say, picking himself off of the ground. "Just what kind of scarf is this!"

"It's high-grade cotton, integrated with micro-fiber steel frames for extra protection. It's also flame resistant!"

"How do you even find something like this in a store!"

"The Goddess of Shopping is in this place…may we all be thankful for her grace." Marvel said, smiling. She reached into her blouse pocket and pulled out a silver-colored card, which she handed to the cashier. She swiped the card and handed it back shortly after.

"Would you like a receipt?"

"What did you just say?" Marvel's voice suddenly flipped and became darker.

"Um, I asked if you would like a…"

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO DIE?"

"W-What! No!"

"How dare you bring shame to the Goddess' purchase! Repent! For you are unclean in the eyes of the gods!" Marvel looked back at Tails, who looked as if he had just stepped into the middle of a fight between two religious groups vying for dominance. "WE GO!"

"Um…I'm sorry." He said to the girl behind the counter, who looked as if she were about to cry. "She's, how do I put it…crazy…"

"NEXT!"

**The Silver Duck 10:57 AM**

"Now why are we here?" Tails asked, looking at the endless rows of jeans and jean-shorts. Marvel searched around the store endlessly, trying to find the right item for Tails to wear. He simply stood still by the dressing rooms, watching as the pink tuft moved through the aisles like a shark through water. She'd occasionally stop and look up at him, and then dive back into the jeans. Sometimes she would even run into someone, and the only thing he'd see is a shopping basket full of denim go sailing into the air. When she finally returned to him, she had a pair of silver-ish, blue shorts in tow and a wide grin on her face.

"Put these on!"

"What? Right here, are you crazy?"

"You're already naked, why are you so worried about it?"

"Do you have to keep throwing logic into this?"

"Every now and then."

"I don't hate you for that." Tails said, slipping into the comfortable pair of shorts. Once they were on, he took a glance at himself in the mirror. Surprisingly, it didn't look too bad on him. He took a moment to adjust his tails through the little hole in the back, which he thought was very conveniently placed. "Hey…these are actually pretty nice. They feel really comfortable. But…kinda heavy."

"They should be. They're made out of silver ivory, a very rare and strong material only found in the southern part of the planet!"

"And how much will this one cost?" Tails asked her with skepticism.

"Let's find out!" Marvel said, ringing her fingers through one of the belt-loops and dashing off. Once again, Tails was nearly de-legged as Marvel ripped him across the store to the check out line, which for some reason was completely empty. However, this particular store had a conveyor belt-like contraption before the register. Marvel stared at Tails evilly, not even allowing him to catch his breath, before swinging him onto the conveyor like a toy doll. The older boy slammed on the rack, smacking a tray of candy bars and causing them to fall over and hit something on the opposite side of him. Though he couldn't see what it was, he knew it had to be a person, due to the sound of a small shriek that escape seconds after impact.

The Cashier looked at Tails as he drew up to the scanner, his arms and legs crossed and very disturbed look on his face. The teenager took the price gun and stared at Tails for a few moments, looking as if he were lost. "You gonna scan me or what?"

The boy took the gun and placed the red laser over Tails' eyes, causing the older boy to blink repeatedly before the gun eventually moved downward towards the price tag dangling off the side of the jeans. "T-That'll be 3600G sir…"

"Why am I not surprised."

"Because you don't know how to shop." Marvel said, handing the cashier her card again. The boy looked at the card, then at Marvel, then back at the card.

"Um…do you…have an ID for the card…?"

Marvel twitched before looking up at the boy with a grimacing stare. "Excuse me?"

"Well, uh…unless you're 16 or older…you have to have an ID to use this kind of card here…"

"I think you need to re-evaluate your situation." Marvel said, staring the boy down. She slammed her fists on the conveyor near Tails, causing the fox the jump up and smack his head on the glowing register sign. "This is not your place to tell me what I can and can't do simply because of an age limit."

"But…but it's the rules…"

Marvel looked at the boy's name tag, squinting a little, then staring back at him. "Your name is Guy, huh?"

"Y-Yes."

"Did you like it when your parents told you that couldn't live under their roof and now you have to work at a clothing store that belittles your very race?"

"What! What d-do you m-mean!"

"And now you're going to be laughed at by every cute girl who passes by because you earn less than minimum wage and now you'll never get laid until you're in your 40s."

"N-No!"

"Now, I can be very understanding. Reasonably understanding. But unless you want me to break your neck right here and right now, it'd be wise for you to just ring the card!"

"Somebody help! Emergency on Aisle 3!"

"Ring the card, Guy…" Marvel said, bringing her face closer to the terrified worker. He nervously swiped the card, before accidentally dropping it on the conveyor. Marvel took the card and placed it back in her blouse pocket. "Thank you for shopping with us. I hope you have a nice day." she said, walking away. "Come love, there is much work we have to do." Tails, still clinging to the glowing number three sign, looked at the terrified cashier, who was sharing the same look of fear and panic.

"Dude…is she like, the BDSM kind or…"

"Don't even go there…"

**Lawrence's Boutique for the Questionable Man 11: 16 AM**

With a name like that, Tails was wondering if he should be questioning himself in such a place. All of the shoppers there looked nice. But not the kind of nice he wanted to be acquainted with. Honestly, the whole thing made him uneasy. Especially since Marvel was the only female in the store. Everyone occasionally looked at him and smiled, and he would sort of smile back. But it was that kind of smile that sent shivers down his spine. The kind that he know he shouldn't be smiling at this person, because it was most likely _taken the way it wasn't supposed to be_. Then again, saying something was _taken the way it wasn't supposed to be_ would be _right up the alley_ for a place like this. And then again, saying something was _right up the alley_….you get the idea. As Marvel rummaged through some collection of button up shirts, she picked a few off the rack and held them up for him to see. 'What do you think? Which one do you like?"

Tails looked them over. The white one sort of intrigued him, but white wasn't much his color. The red one went nice with his scarf, but maybe a little too well. But the blue one looked cool. He liked blue. It had a really neat design on the back too. As he stared at it more, Marvel carelessly tossed the other two over the rack. "I can tell you like this one."

"How so?"

"It's a woman's intuition."

"That's coming from a girl who's not a woman yet?"

"It compliments your eyes."

"Huh?" Tails said, as Marvel came up to him and pressed the shirt to his bare chest. She stared at him for a few moments, before smiling and twirling around.

"Yup, this definitely matches with your eyes."

"Is that good?"

"Oh yes, very good!"

"So…you like it then?" Tails asked her. Marvel shook her head.

"It makes you look…really handsome."

"R-Really?" Tails said, feeling himself blush a little. "Gee, thanks…"

"Just telling the truth." Marvel grinned. "Ok, it's decided then! We're going to go with this one!"

"Wait a moment!"

"What?"

"I can't just have you buying everything for me."

"Of course you can. That's because we're together now. What's mine is yours and what's yours should probably stay yours because if I got a hold of it, WHEW, who knows what would happen."

"But…you already spent quite a load on me today. Allow me to pay for this myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm positive." Tails said.

"Well, okay…" Marvel said, handing him the shirt. Before Tails cold reach out and grab the shirt, a mysterious hand launched itself through the rack to the side of them and snatched it up. Suddenly, a tall, slender, cat rose up and grunted.

"I don't think so, honey!"

"Excuse me!" Marvel yelled back.

"Never will I allow a woman's hands to transfer the merchandise of **my **store to an innocent young devil of a man like this!" he said, batting his lashes at Tails.

The fox looked at Marvel with a priceless look on his face. "I'm scared now."

"Just what is this all about!" Marvel asked the man. He patted down his chest-less, netted shirt and coughed.

"This is a man's store, beauty. Hence, only men are allowed to shop here. I don't question your sexuality, but when it comes to buying here, men have top priorities."

"What does that have to do with me touching it?"

"Oh. You're a nasty, vile creature who shouldn't be able to be blessed by the Goddess' good will in such a store as this, that is all. Having a woman shop here will only upset the balance of the Shopping Goddess' good favor."

Marvel was awed by the man's prophecy, and crossed her arms. "I see. You are wise."

"The Shopping Goddess is in this place."

"And may all that purchase in iniquity be cursed. Yes, I understand." She said. Looking at Tails with a determined look, she placed a single hand on his should and nodded her head. "You must go with this man, and you must purchase."

"I'm not sure I want to."

"I'll be right behind you." The cat-man grinned.

"Would you rather he be behind you?" Marvel said, pointing at the large cat who was winking at him.

"NO!" Tails huffed out the words under his breath.

When they arrived at the, again, empty register line, Tails placed the shirt on the scanner and waited for the cat to scan it. "Ohhh, good heavens…" he said in a coy voice.

"I take it something is wrong?" Tails asked him.

"I'm afraid I won't be allowed to sell this to you…"

"And **that's** because?" The fox grew irritated.

"It seems this is the last available item of this brand."

"Why would that matter? And How could something like that possibly happen anyway?"

"The outlet that manufactured this brand apparently got blown up by a freak shark accident."

"What! How the hell can a shark…" Tails found himself getting worked up. "_Ahem_. How is it that a **shark** can blow up a **clothing outlet**?"

"Do I look like a marine biologist? I just sell clothes, honey! Nothing more, nothing less. Anyway, it seems if you want to buy these now, it's gonna ring you 25,000G"

"You have got to be kidding me!" Tails yelled in frustration, lowering his head. Marvel placed a hand on his shoulder and sighed.

"The Goddess is not with you. She is not with you at all."

"I concur." The cat man said, sucking his teeth.

Placing her right hand on her chest, and staring at the cashier, Marvel's eyes lit up. "I will buy them for him!"

"I already explained it to you! I cannot let you do that!"

"I know the risks! But I cannot let him suffer so! If the Goddess chose not to shine her light on him, then I will cast myself into the dark along with him! I will not stand idly by and watch as this poor, insignificant man's hopes and dreams are dashed upon the evil foundry of improvacation!"

"What?" Tails was beginning to question Marvel's sanity even more so than he already did.

"That article of clothing will be his! Even if I must sacrifice myself to the goddess' wrath! I will do it gladly, just to see that he is happy! I will do anything for him!"

"You know, I can just find another shirt."

"SILENCE!"

The cat behind the register moved his finger under his eye, wiping away a fake tear. "Awww…that was just…so…beautiful. I'm truly touched, I am. I wish it were by the boy, but touched by compassion is great too."

"I'm uncomfortable." Tails said.

"Ok. For the risk of also running on the Goddess' PMS, I will allow you to buy this strapping young man this very expensive piece of cloth. Will that be cash or card?"

"Card, of course." marvel said, handing him the card. The man looked at it for a long time, staring at the name imprinted on the thin piece of silver. After a while, he looked at Marvel, then back down at the card. "You wouldn't happen to be related to-"

"Nope. Not at all." Marvel said nonchalantly.

"Oh, really honey? Then are you two like-"

"Scan the card." Marvel said, grabbing the man's wrist and squeezing hard. His mouth instantly closed as he witnessed the younger girl's eyes warp into a chaotic glare of malice. The man continued to stare into her eyes, hesitating to follow through on her request. Eventually, he smiled, and swiped the card. "Yes, of course."

"Thank you." Marvel said, letting go of his hand and smiling. Tails looked completely confused. But for that moment, he had truly felt something dark about the girl standing in front of him. Marvel was never really scary. In fact, she was the opposite of scary. But that wouldn't be the first moment that made him think twice about just who she is. He found her quite…intimidating. As the cat plucked the safety device from the shirt, he handed it back to Marvel, who then handed it to Tails. "Here you go! Now the set is complete.!"

"Uh…yeah…thanks…" Tails said, taking the jacket and slipping it on. It felt quite snug, and less heavy than the shorts he wore. Though he was inclined to wonder just what made this particular shirt so different from everything else. But for 25000G, he feared not knowing the answer would be better. As they set off to leave the store, the cat man pulled Marvel back, while Tails continued to walk, too busy admiring the designs on his new shirt. The girl stared up at him and grinned.

"What are you doing here, Katz?"

"Just admiring the scenery." He said, chuckling. "I take it you're doing the same?"

"At least in front of him." She said, looking at Tails.

"Does he know yet…?"

"No…and I rather he didn't…"

I see…"

Marvel playfully slapped the older man's hand from her and began to walk off. The cat man embraced himself and blew a fake kiss at her. "Have a good time, darling!…_you're going to be in for a rude awakening_."

**Food Court 12:01 PM**

Tails chomped down his chilidog like a starving chipmunk. The rest of that morning concluded with Marvel's wanting of more fashion accessories. A nice, black, studded belt for his pants. A new pair of multicolored socks. And even some plaid underwear. Tails had never before worn them, but he could see himself catching on to the fad pretty quick. What used to be a cold feeling was now a feeling of warmth and comfortableness he never experienced before. Just what was he missing out on when he never decided to wear clothes? The day didn't end there. They visited several other stores, picking out at least one new outfit from every one. A good ten bags sat by his side now, while Marvel's side remained completely empty. But that wasn't the only thing he noticed the girl was missing. She wasn't even bothering to eat. He ordered a good 5 chilidogs, and though he had only eaten two of them, the other three remained on the tray. Marvel sat with her head rested on the back of her palms and staring into the distance. Tails took a moment to down the rest of his hog before wiping his face and trying to talk. "You alright?" He asked her.

Marvel turned to look at him and smiled. "Sure. What ever made you think I wasn't?"

"Well…You're not eating, for one."

"You really expect a delicate lady of my caliber to resort to eating a dead animal stuffed in bread and bean sauce?"

"Um…yeah…"

"I'm not hungry." She said casually.

"Oh. Ok…Well…how about we go shopping again."

"Geez, you have enough clothes don't you? I'm already over 75000G."

"Is that a problem?"

"Nah, I've got a good 150,000G left for my allowance this month.

"I expected an answer like that. But It's not shopping for me…it's for you."

"For…me?" Marvel looked at him confused.

"Sure. Why would I be the only one to get nice things, when I don't even shop for myself. You should look nice too. Well…what I'm trying to say is…er…you should spoil yourself too. You know, like mostly all girls do."

"Is that so…." Marvel said, staring at him.

"Y-Yeah…that's so."

The girl took a deep breath and threw out her arms, stretching. "Ok then, now that you mention it, there's this one place I want to go."

"Just one?"

"Yeah. I saw this really cute outfit in the window when I was walking by earlier."

"Well…okay then. Let's go." Tails said, carelessly tossing the remaining chilidogs in the trash behind him. "I hated those things anyway…"

**Maura's Dazzling Avenue 12:37 PM**

Tails sat by the dressing room in the very large, and very provocative, woman's store. The red velvet plastered over every inch of the place was beginning to make him seem like her was trapped in a pitcher of fruit punch. But that wasn't merely as unnerving as the fact that women all over the store were staring at him. Was it because he was the only guy there? Or was it because he was the only guy there, carrying an armload of bags, and sitting near a dressing room? The possibilities could be endless, but for the time being, he decided not to think about it. As he continued to sit there, time just went by and by. Marvel would come in and out of the dressing room, consulting with one of the floor workers about what to wear and what they have in her size. Though he wouldn't outright say it, she had a pretty amazing size. From his perspective, she had the perfect body. It was like looking at Amy Rose, except not feeling guilty for it or being utterly disgusted. Occasionally she would come to him, wondering about his opinions on certain articles of clothing that she would choose. One time she came out in an orange track suit, which quickly garnered negative feedback from him. The other time, she was sporting a pink and black traditional style kimono. Though it was hard to tell which part was her face and not a part of the outfit. Another time, she was clad in a leather…something. It was definitely something he had never seen before, and he would never tell her that he wouldn't mind seeing it again. But at least not in a public place. As time went on, Tails found himself drained of all form of life. Is this what all men did when they had a significant other to go shopping with? Now he truly understood why Knuckles always wanted to ditch Julie-su when she mentioned shopping. A person never understands true horror till they experience it themselves. That was beginning to ring true now. The only difference in their situations was, he and Marvel weren't dating.

A few moments more, and tails found himself leaning against the wall, his eyes steadily closing at a rapid pace. The boredom was beginning to get to him. And the constant rerun of Whitney Spears was beginning to turn him into a vegetable. If only he could escape somehow. Sleep seemed like the only possible exit at that point. But just as he allowed himself ten minutes of snooze time, he was abruptly awoken by the sound of a foot tapping in front of him. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a beauty in which he had never before been so gracious as to gaze upon. His eyes traced every inch of her body. Her stylish black, high-heeled boots. The ruffled black skirt trimmed with lace. The white, button up blouse, and the short black jacket that covered it. And a little black choker around her neck. Everything looked nice on her, not to mention the black laced gloves. As tails reached her face, he saw the pair of green eyes staring down at him, and a large grin spread across the pink hedgehog's face. "So…what do you think?"

Tails was dumbstruck. It took him a moment to realize who it was standing in front of him. "…Wow…" He said, his mouth hanging open.

"I'll take that as a "you look very much awesome.""

"Yeah…awesome…" Tails muttered. "When did…" He began to say, pointing up at Marvel's head.

The girl swung her head from side to side, letting the full extent of her now, long ponytail dance around behind her. "You'd be amazed what this place has. They have a tanning spa, an on-site acupuncture specialist, and even a hot spring. Or in My case, just a Salon."

"But…how?"

"Never question how you can turn spikes into a ponytail. People just do things like that. Besides, I think it's just a misconception."

"How is that?"

"It's not like I can cut metal with these things. Or turn into a ball and shoot out of cannons and what not. That'd just be ridiculous."

"If only Sonic can hear you say that."

"Who?"

"Nothing, never mind." Tails laughed to himself. Never the less, he couldn't stop admiring the younger girl. It was as if she went through a transformation. Marvel noticed his constant eye movement and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well? You got something to say there?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're looking at me kind of hard…"

"I am?" Tails caught himself. "N-No, that's not it!"

Marvel spread a devious grin and jumped forward, closing the gap between them. She stood to where their faces were just barely touching. Tails tried to scoot himself away from her, but found that he was very inconveniently placed in front of a wall. Marvel continued to move closer, until she suddenly stopped. He gulped, not sure just what he could do in a situation like that. He was sure that even he even so much as made the slightest movement, he would inevitably touch the girl before him. Marvel stared him in the eyes, very coldly, but seductively. "What…you're afraid?"

"N-No…" Tails muttered. "Just…"

"What's the matter, it's not the first time you've been this close to me."

"I know, but…"

"Tell me something…do you remember what happened the first night we met?"

Tails could never forget that single most regrettable night of his life. And though it had been almost four weeks ago, he remembered every detail. At least, from what others told him. "Yeah…"

"Then you also remember what you did to me that night…."

"Can we not discuss that…I wasn't in the best of mind that night…"

"Neither was I."

"I was wasted! I didn't mean to touch you, or…or…" Tails stopped. Marvel moved in closer and closer, Thrusting him deeper and deeper into her paralyzing eyes.

"Or what?"

"Or…" Tails gulped. "Or…kiss…you…."

Marvel smiled. She placed both her hands on the sides of his head, assuring her wouldn't be moving anywhere. As she did, she slowly and tantalizingly closed her eyes while finalizing the space between them. Tails shut his eyes, for fear of what the girl might do next. But when he waited for the feel of the girl's lips, they never came. Instead, he felt a warm sensation burning in his ear. "I think we should finish…don't you….?" Marvel whispered.

Tails felt a surge of heat rush down his body. He was beginning to tremble, but soon stopped himself when he realized Marvel was no longer pinning him to the wall. Opening his eyes, he saw the pink hedgehog standing a few feet in front of him and looking out of the fourth-story window. Regaining his composure, he tugged his scarf and swallowed. "W-What do you mean…finish…?"

"There." Marvel said, pointing out the window. Tails hesitantly walked up to the large glass and looked down to the ground below. What he saw was something he had not expected to see. Or at least, something he didn't know was there. Outside, just a few ways off from their location, was a giant Carnival. Roller Coasters, Ferris Wheels, Haunted Houses, you name it. "It looks fun…"

"Well, that's generally the idea of a Carnival. But I didn't know we were having one this time of year."

"We should go."

"Huh? Now?"

"Why not. It's not like we have anything else to do today."

"Sheesh. You pull that stunt back there and now you switch to wanting to go to a Carnival?" Tails became a little upset. "Sorry, but the only thing I want to do is go back home."

"And the only thing I want to do is be with you." Marvel said, looking him in the eyes. Tails' fate was sealed the moment he decided to look into those jade orbs of hers. Sighing, he lowered his head.

"Fine…we'll go."

"YAY!" Marvel said, leaping up and down. "I've never been to a Carnival before!"

"You haven't? What self-respecting kid grows up without going to a carnival?"

"One that didn't have parents" Marvel smiled.

"Oh…" Tails felt as though he had become the biggest jerk on planet Mobius. "I didn't know…I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. I'm glad my **first time** will be with you." Marvel said, smiling wholeheartedly.

"D-don't say things like that!" Tails yelled at her. "You know how things you say always get taken out of context!"

"You act like that's a bad thing."

"It is when you're me."

"Then I'm glad you're you." She said, reaching out and grabbing his hand. She locked their fingers together and led him away. "Onward, to the capital of spinny-ness and fast moving steel trollies!"

"Can't you just talk normally for one day?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

* * *

On the roof-top of the mall, the cat-man watched as Marvel led Tails outside into the parking lot, carrying an armful of shopping bags, and laughed as he witnessed the younger boy trip and scatter the merchandise; earning him an immediate reprimand from Marvel. The sight made him a little bit cheery. On one hand, he was glad to see Marvel again, and the other, because she had finally found the happiness she was looking for.

"You seem happy today, Lawrence." a deep, feminine voice said from behind him. Lawrence turned around to see a snow white fox sitting atop the railing with her legs crossed. "It's been a long time, hasn't it my old friend?"

"Quite a few number of years, yes. However, I don't ever recall us being…**friends**"

"Then would business associates be a better title?"

"No. But I'll settle."

"Hmhmhm…still as couth as ever. And how about our little flower?

"Yeah…I messed around with the darling a little earlier, hm hm hm." Lawrence laughed to himself. "She seemed to know who I was the whole time."

"I doubt you could hide your smell from someone like her. Even if you **are** a shape-shifter."

"So what brings you here to see me? Isn't it a little early to be phoning home?"

"That can wait for now, my feline _business associate_."

"Then you must be after **her**…"

The mysterious fox grinned and stared down at the pink hedgehog spinning around like a ballerina in the parking lot, before tripping over a rock and face planting into a light post. "She's such a klutz …"

"Only you would know."

"I think it's time I paid the little darling a visit. Don't you think so?"

"By paying her a visit, you mean…?"

"Setting the record straight." An evil grin spread across her face. "She took something very precious to me..." The fox said, staring down at Tails. "And now I'm going to do the same to her."


	9. Tunnel of Disappointment

**Characters Thus Far:  
**

Miles 'Tails' Prower - Paranoid.

Marvelous St. Vanderburgh - Has pretty excellent cognitive skills

Sonic the Hedgehog - Victim of Karma

Amy Rose - Still angry

Rotor Walrus - A well known, but least fiction-ed Sonic character.**  
**

**A/N: Yay, Chapter 9. This one particularly was hard to write. Couldn't come up with any ideas. So if it feels rushed, I apologize. But oh well. Read and enjoy as always.**

* * *

The expression on the pink hedgehog's face could not be explained in words. Or if they could be, Tails had no way to make them possibly emerge from his mouth. As they entered the Carnival site, Marvel seemed like a little girl who had just wandered into a candy store the size of an entire city. She hopped from one foot to the other, excited beyond reasoning. As he emptied his pockets at the ticket booth just to let them in, he walked up to her and sighed. "Well, at least we got in. It cost extra to put those bags in storage…"

"There's…so….much…stuff…" Marvel said, looking around at all of the attractions sprawled out in all directions.

"Yeah, that's generally what you can expect to see at places like this."

"We have to try **everything!**"

"Wait, Everything?" Tails protested. "Marvel, I don't know if that's such a-"

"Will you quit being a spoilsport and just enjoy yourself for once!" Marvel said, wrapping herself around his arm and pulling him forward. "When's the last time you had some fun?"

"I…uh…" Tails couldn't comment on the situation. Truth be told, he couldn't actually remember the last time he took a day off to enjoy himself. That day alone was possibly the most time he ever spent outside of his house in the past few years. His time of working day in and day out all of sudden changed the moment Marvel came into his life. Since then, everyday felt like something new. That was an experience he thought he had all but forgotten. He wasn't that same ten year-old trailing behind Sonic all the time. When he thought about it that way, he figured the least he could do was take the time to enjoy the day. Looking at marvel, whose eyes were sparkling something serious, he knew he couldn't disappoint her. "Alright…you win."

"YAY!" She squeezed his arm tighter. "I know exactly what I want to do first!"

"Is it something I'm going to regret?"

"…Maybe…"

Marvel's reference was directed at a large walrus in a ringmaster outfit and a megaphone. This scene looked familiar. Tails wondered if there would be trouble like last time, but the seeming idea of a brawl or shoot-out beginning at the Carnival was quickly dismissed. As he and Marvel approached the man, he found that he had actually known who this person was. In fact, he knew him all too well. "Rotor?" Tails said to him. The older man turned toward the sound of the familiar voice and his expression lit up.

"Tails!" Rotor said with enthusiasm. "Long time no see!"

"Yeah, very long time." The fox laughed. "You getting so old you have to resort to wearing pin-striped suits and knee high boots?"

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up chuckles." Rotor said, shaking Tail's hand. "What brings you out here today?"

"Just taking some time off."

"**You?** Taking time off? That's a real treat."

"Wouldn't you know it…"

"It's a great thing that you finally decided to enjoy yourself. No one needs to work themselves past their limit. I would know."

"Yeah. I can only blame one person for this."

"And that would be?"

"Her." Tails said, pointing at Marvel, who had somehow ventured behind the two of them and staring up at the large, steel contraption.

"Amy?" Rotor said with a bit of disbelief in his voice. "No, that isn't her. She's a bit…"

"That's how you'd tell them apart!" Tails shot Rotor a disappointed glance.

"So one's a little endowed and the other is not. Big deal."

"Coming from someone your age, it's more than a big deal."

"Ok, ok. I got ya!"

Tails laughed, placing his hands in his pockets, which raised another question from Rotor. "Since when did you start exploring fashion?"

"Ever since today…wasn't really my choice."

"Well, I see the Goddess of Fashion has favored you well, then."

"You believe in that too?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Right…"

"HEY!" Tails heard a voice from behind Rotor. They both turned around to see the pink hedgehog glaring madly at the 50 foot machine in front of them.

"What's wrong?"

"How do you work this ride? It's not going anywhere. How are you supposed to sit on it and where are the safety straps? Is this some sort of medieval death launcher machine thing?"

"It's called Test Your Strength." Rotor told her. "And I don't ever think it was meant to be a ride."

"Then what do you do on it?" Marvel said, looking over the contraption. "Oh my…it couldn't be **that** could it?"

"You went there on purpose!" Tails yelled at her. "You hit it!"

"Huh? Hit it with what?"

"With this." Rotor said, picking up a large hammer from off of a small wooden rack. "It's meant to test your strength, like the name implies. Just take a swing at it."

"Can I really?" Marvel said, looking at Tails. The boy shrugged, not too sure why she would even need his approval to swing a hammer. Just then, before Rotor handed over the hammer to the girl, the trio heard a very familiar voice creep up from out of nowhere.

"What's the matter? You can't swing a hammer?"

Marvel narrowed her eyes and slowly turned around, hers soon meeting with those of another pink hedgehog. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand You would be here, why?"

Tails and Rotor watched as Amy Rose, back from her ordeal of being attacked by Marvel, came walking up to them, with a certain blue hedgehog slouching after her. "Hey guys…" Sonic murmured.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Tails asked him. Sonic shot a spiteful glance up at Amy, but luckily she didn't catch him do that.

"I'm on a date. What does it look like?"

"Like you've been through the Seven Rings of Hell." Rotor said. That comment only made Sonic's head drop more.

"Thanks for the comment, doc."

"You had it coming."

"ANYWAY!" Amy broke up the peanut gallery. "Sonic and I are on a date today. And it was going lovely until I saw your face." She said, staring at Marvel.

"_You should feel that way looking in a mirror every morning._" Marvel said under her breath.

"What was that?"

"You must be hearing things."

"You think I could possibly forget what you did to me?"

"I don't know. It depends on how big the bruises were."

"Oooh. Told." Sonic snickered. Amy shot him a fierce look, which instantly caused his mouth to snap shut.

"You're not helping, Sonic dearest…Not. At. All."

"…I apologize…" Sonic said with a regretful look. Tails palmed his face at the pathetic display of dominance the girl had over him. Oh how the mighty have fallen. But he figured that was all due to his legal status now. One false step from Sonic and he could land in prison. He was sure Amy knew that too. A lot of pressure for someone over 18. Tails was glad he didn't have to worry about that sort of trouble. Yet anyway.

"So, I take it you're here for more than just beating people up. What, you gonna blow up the Carnival too?"

"I'm really starting to want to hit you…" Marvel said, clenching her fists. But a sudden hand on her shoulder from Tails calmed her down.

"No, Amy. She's here with me."

"Huh?" Amy drew back for a second. "What do you mean she's with you? Are you two…dating?"

"I….guess that's what you can call it. We're spending the day together. That's all. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't go causing trouble."

"Hmph." Amy crossed her arms. "Whatever. I'm not worried about it anyway."

"I'm sure…"

"But I do want to vent some frustration." Amy looked over at Rotor. "Mind if I take a swing at your machine?"

"Uh…go ahead. That's what it's there for."

"Good, because I want that thing right there." She said, pointing at the prize rack on the opposite side of Rotor. Of all the cute, fluffy, stuffed animals, there was a prize only the top winner could receive. The cutest most fluffiest pink rabbit in the world. Amy's eyes were fixated on the little rabbit, and as soon as she saw it, so was Marvel.

"Wait, you get prizes for this?"

"Of course you do. What kind of question is that? Haven't you ever been to a Carnival before?" Amy grunted at her.

"Never mind about that." Tails interrupted the other girl's rant. "It's just a prize."

"But I want it." Marvel said, staring at the rabbit. Tails shook his head and exhaled loudly. Reaching over to the hammer in Rotor's possession, he took it in his hands and approached the machine.

"Fine, I'll get it for you." He said, fixing himself up to hit the machine.

"Be careful." Rotor warned him. Tails looked back at him with a confused look.

"What for? It's like playing whack-a-mole. What's so dangerous about this?"

"The very reason I'm here, actually. It's a modified version of the original hammer machines. If you're not intuitive about your strikes, you won't be able to hit the buzzer, let alone even get the weight off of the ground."

Sonic, Amy, and Tails all stared at Rotor, who seemed to enjoying his little revelation to them, on account he was chuckling. "Normal swings won't do, huh?" Tails said, taking the hammer in one hand. He turned sideways, and with a mighty swing, he launched the hammer into the gong. The tiny weight flew up into the air…about 10 feet…and fell back down. Tail's face was littered with disbelief and embarrassment. "What! That was…how did…I want a redo!"

"One try per customer, I'm afraid." Rotor said, snatching the hammer from him. A second later, Sonic approached him and took the hammer. When he was ready, he scooted the still unbelieving fox aside and took his place before the mighty machine.

"Let a real man handle this." Sonic said, cracking his knuckles.

"And I suppose that man would be you?" Tails asked, looking skeptical. Sonic shrugged, with that signature cocky grin.

"Who else?"

"Just swing the damn hammer…"

"You can't rush perfection!" Amy cheered. "Go Sonic! You can do it! Show them what my Sonic can do!"

"Let's get one thing straight, I'm not doing this for you." Sonic said, looking back at her. "I'm doing it for myself."

"And that's because?"

"I need to feel like a man again…" he snorted. The blue hero took the hammer in both hands, and in a whirlwind of speed, charged into a ball of 100% hedgehog fury. When he was ready, he flipped out of the spin and slammed the hammer into the gong. The tiny weight jumped into the air, just barely passing the 25 foot mark before it came sailing back down. "And with that…my manhood disappears…" Sonic said, dropping the hammer and walking away.

"You tried." Tails attempted to cheer him up. "Not well, but you tried."

"I can sense sarcasm."

"You should, you use it enough."

Amy's expression soured. She wanted that pink rabbit. And as she looked over to Marvel, she knew that the other girl wanted it too. But she wouldn't let her one-up her again. Not this time. From out of nowhere, she whipped out her almighty Piko-Piko Hammer, which hinted to everyone else that they knew what was coming next. "I'll be using this, if you don't mind."

"What do I care." Rotor said, chewing on a piece of cotton candy. "Just be sure to hit something this time. You guys are embarrassing yourselves."

"We'll see about THAT!" Amy said, winding up her hammer. "HYAH!" She screamed, launching the gigantic hammer at the gong. The weight rocketed into the air, easily soaring past Tails and Sonic's combined score altogether. As it roared up to the 39 foot mark, Amy's eyes grew wide as she anticipated the further climb, but shortly after, it fell back down. "NOOOOOOO! It was so close!"

"Close but no cigar." Rotor laughed. "I admit though, you put both those boys to shame. You got some real power behind those arms."

"Of course I do." Amy crossed her arms and pouted.

"Well…last up." Rotor said, handing Marvel the hammer. The girl looked at the object in her hand, then up at the machine. A puzzled look crossed her face, but then, straightened out. Tails wondered what she planned on doing, and if it would possibly be enough. But then, he had remembered something. Marvel wasn't exactly as weak as she led everyone to believe. He would be the first to know that. Anyone who could stop Amy's hammer with the simple flick of a finger has to have some sort of power behind them. Something seemed awkward about her, like she was hiding something. Maybe this was as good a chance as any to find out just what she was made of.

"All I have to do is hit it, right?" She asked Rotor.

"Yup. Just gotta hit it."

"Does it matter which way I hit it?"

"Nope. Any way counts. So long as you reach the buzzer. That's the beauty of ingenuity."

"I see…ok then…" Marvel said, seeming like she understood the concept. She backed away from the machine, standing at least 7 feet from the gong. Tails wondered what she could be up to, as Sonic and Amy continued to look on confused. A moment later, Marvel broke into a small run, before jumping into the air and landing on the gong with her feet. The weight moved only 7 feet in the air, invoking an early celebration of failure from Amy. But as soon as the weight began to fall again, Marvel took the hammer and swung it upwards, slamming the poor weight and sending it thundering into the air. A second later, the multiple lights around the 50 foot machine starting blaring, and the sounds of little sirens and bells filled the air. "I thought as much." Marvel said, jumping back down from the platform.

"And we have a Grand Winner!" Rotor said over the megaphone.

"I don't believe it!" Amy ranted, biting on the hem of her dress. "How is that possibly considered fair!"

"I said as long as you hit the buzzer. It didn't matter **how** you hit it."

"WHAT!"

"Point made." Tails said, sighing. "If that was the case, I could have just flew up and rang it myself."

"No, **that** would be cheating." Rotor laughed.

"But there was something that was off the whole time, was there not?" Marvel asked the large walrus. Rotor raised a brow, wondering if the pink hedgehog was on to him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Marvel put a finger to her lips. "I noticed that when the others hit the machine, the counter-weight on the bottom actually had two separate mechanisms attached to it. These would allow separate but instantaneous movement of the lever that moved the weight. Generally, the power from the person's swing would be separated between three levers, which would redistribute their power, forcing the weight to actually lose more power than it would if they had hit it normally, and thus delaying the time of its launch. I figured the only way to really hit it was to get it off of the mechanism first, then hitting it."

"I…am…astounded!" Rotor said, jumping up. "You actually figured that out just by looking at the machine? You are one amazing girl!"

"Wait, you mean you cheated us!" Sonic complained.

"No, no. I didn't cheat you. Like I said, the device is to test ingenuity. And when it came down to it, you three were just sticks in the mud. But this girl, she actually figured out the secret. She's a genius!"

"Aww, well…you know…" Marvel found herself blushing a little. "I wouldn't go that far."

"Please, don't." Tails scoffed.

"Anyhow, here's your prizes." Rotor said, grabbing a few items off of the rack. He handed Tails a toy plane, which caused the boy to force a very crooked grin.

"More planes…I'm so happy…"

Sonic got a miniature doll of himself, and Amy got some sort of doll, which she instantly ripped the head off of. Sonic threw the Sonic Doll at her and hoped that would suffice for his company the rest of the day. But it didn't. Taking him by the arm, Amy threw her tongue out at Marvel. "I'll get you back for this! That's a promise!"

With that, the pink nuisance disappeared into the Carnival grounds, leaving Marvel to reap the rewards of receiving the large pink bunny. She hugged it tightly and then, reached out to Tails and grabbed his hand. "This is so much fun! Let's go do some more!"

"Uh…sure…"

Waving goodbye to Rotor and moving on, the fox's fate was basically sealed. Marvel literally dragged him everywhere around the Carnival. Their first adventure together led them to a kid's tea cup ride. Tails felt that maybe he was a little too old to be enjoying himself on such a thing. But Marvel was completely thrilled of the idea of riding in a giant tea cup. Were tea cups really that exciting? Only to a self-proclaimed maid probably. After the three and a half minutes of swirling and spinning, Tails leaped out of the round contraption, only to have Marvel fall out of the ride completely. Her first time on a ride? Most likely. But the day didn't end there. Next there was the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Dragon Coaster, and even a full-fledged water ride. However, the lines for the rides were probably ten times longer than the ride was itself. But even then, Marvel waited in line, bouncing around like a kangaroo on sugar pills. Tails couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, clutching the large, pink rabbit, whom she had named George. Maybe it was because she was radiating with happiness. The day went on, and more rides came and went. Tails found himself exhausted by the middle of the day, and took a moment to calm the raging pink hedgehog for a bit to eat. Of course, her definition of food at that time wasn't the kind of thing you would eat at 5:00 in the afternoon. Cotton Candy, 3 foot tall gummy bears, and even 50Oz blue slushies. She was on total sugar overload by this point, and Tails, only having yet another detestable chilidog, found that her hyper-ness would eventually be the end of him.

The biggest and baddest rides in the Carnival were still ahead, and Tails figured he wouldn't have to worry about such a thing. He was the pilot of the Tornado, after all. He's been in situations that far exceeded any limit of what a forged contraption of steel could ever deliver. The only problem, however, was that Marvel tended to freak out on every single ride. Every ride except for the Tilt-a-Whirl, which he didn't want to remember for the fact that Marvel vomited and nearly passed out briefly after the ride was over. Embarrassing? For her maybe. The trauma he suffered after witnessing regurgitated "something" would haunt him the rest of his life. As the day soon shifted to night, the hustle and bustle of the crowded Carnival soon transformed into a more calming, and semi-romantic atmosphere. Marvel was surprised at the dazzling and colorful lights all around them. But even more so than that, something in the distance caught her attention more than lights. With George in one arm and the other wrapped around Tails', she tugged at the sleeve of his shirt. "Let me guess…another ride…" Tails said, nearly exhausted. "The Atomic Bomb was good the first three times, but I'm not doing that one again."

"No, not that…" Marvel said, pointing to a small opening in the side of a mid-sized mountain. As Tails looked up at the large gateway, all flooded with bubble letters and bright pink and red lights, his heart instantly skipped a beat. His entire body froze when he read out all the letters.

"The…the…Tunnel of love!"

"Yeah." Marvel said, clutching his arm tighter. "Do you want to go?"

"B-But that's…uh…something you do…"

"With someone you love right?"

"Yeah, exactly!"

"Well then, we should definitely go then." She said, looking at him and smiling. Tails didn't know what to do. As far as he was concerned, the Tunnel of Love was reserved for people with very heavy emotions. Had he and Marvel actually ascended to that level already? If they had, he was completely unaware of it.

"That sort of thing is reserved for couples, you know…"

"Oh…is that so…" Marvel looked away. "So you don't consider us a couple?"

"Well, that's not exactly what I-"

"Then what did you mean?"

"I…uh…"

"Then it's settled. We're going." She said, pulling him forward into the large, flowery gates.

"_How do I get myself into these situations?"_

* * *

At the entrance of the Carnival, people were still coming in, and in larger groups than before. The ticket receptionist didn't really bother to look at any of the customers who bought tickets. She was more concerned about how much longer her gum was going to last in flavor. But suddenly, the setting sun in front of her was blacked out, and she felt a very cold feeling rush over her. Normally, someone would say how many tickets they wanted, but in this case, she didn't get any sort of communication. A little irritated, she looked up from her second busy task of painting her nails to see the large oaf who blocked out her last few moments of sunlight. "Yeah, how many tickets will…you…be…getting…?"

The girl's sentences were chopped into pieces and the gum fell from her wide opened mouth as she gazed upon the figure standing before her. A large body, completely draped in a black cloak and wearing some sort of mask, stood before her. She could hear the heavy, course breathing sound from the being underneath, and almost instantly began shivering. "Um…y-yes…are y-you going to buy tickets, s-sir?"

"I'm sorry, please excuse my friend. He doesn't speak." Said a voice from the background. A second later, the large figure moved aside, and a girl stepped up to the counter; A white fox wearing a very provocative black dress. The receptionist found it hard to stare the girl in the eyes, but she seemed a lot more reasonable than the larger one. "We'll take five tickets." she said, handing the other girl a very unique silver card. She hesitantly took it and scanned it, handing it, and the tickets, back to the fox afterward.

"E-Enjoy your evening."

"Oh, I shall. Thank you very much." The girl said, turning to enter the gate. The larger one followed, and it was then known that three others behind them, all dressed the same as the big one, followed suit.

"Whoa…that was creepy."

* * *

Tails looked hesitantly at the short little boat-like contraption sitting in the water to the entrance of the tunnel. He wasn't sure if it could even float, let alone make it to the end of the ride. However, Marvel didn't let that deter her from throwing herself and George inside. The personnel looked at Tails, wondering if he would ever get in. "Sir, there's a line. Could you please?" he said, trying to usher him into the boat.

"You call that a line?" Tails said, pointing behind him at an old couple rubbing noses.

"You get the idea. Just get in the boat please."

"What he said." Marvel said, patting the cushioned seat beside her. "Get on the boat already."

"I don't want to hear it from you…this was your idea, not mine…" He said, slowly approaching the boat. As he put one foot inside, he heard the creak of the floorboard and was instantly about to jump back out when Marvel grabbed him by the end of his scarf and reeled him in. He plopped into the seat, causing a small tidal wave of water to flood out onto the platform.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"You yanked me in! Of course it wasn't hard!"

"Oh, you'll get over it." She smiled. Looking up at the personnel, she waved a hand and yelled. "Let's take her away, maestro!"

"As you wish, miss. Have a nice journey." The man said, pushing them into the river current.

"Oh, I intend to." Marvel said, looking at Tails as they disappeared into the dark tunnel ahead.

Pink hearts and smooth, romantic music filled the entire tunnel. Tails had never listened to Beary White before, but he could see why his parents did. The atmosphere was almost relaxing enough to take his mind off the fact he was on an actual river, in a makeshift boat that would sink on command if possible. But all in all, it was kind of refreshing to him. He laid his head back against the fluffy seat and closed his eyes. He was pretty much tired at that point. Marvel had worn him out with the day's festivities. All he wanted to do right then was sleep. But obviously, the little pink hedgehog to the side of him wouldn't be having it. She slammed her head onto his arm, causing him to grunt. "What's the big idea?"

"Nothing." Marvel said flatly. "Can't I just lay on you?"

"You have a seat for that."

"I don't feel like it. You're closer."

"How does that possibly make any sense?"

"You still don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" Tails asked her, annoyed. Marvel sighed, cozying up to him more. She raised her legs and placed them into her seat, as she fully rested against the fox boy next to her.

"It's been almost a month since we started living together, you know."

"Yeah, I know that." Tails reminded himself of the horrible breakfast and dinner disasters. Marvel still hadn't gotten the hang of cooking.

"Do you remember why I even came all the way here?"

"Eh? Well…no. Not exactly." Tails scratched his head.

"I came here because I wanted to find the person who I fell in love with a long time ago."

"Oh, right…" Tails' head hung. "Tell me something then. This guy….who was he? What was he like?

Marvel rubbed her head against his arm, snuggling even closer. "He was a great person. Kind and polite. And he was strong too. He wasn't always happy whenever I was around though. I guess because I caused him a lot of trouble. But even so, he still treated me like I was special. I guess that's why I admired him so much.

"So…" Tails scratched his head. "You obviously have that guy. If he's so cool, why would you mistake him for someone like me?"

"You're virtually the same in every way. There's just no way that could be a coincidence. That's why I was glad when I met you."

"You were?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Marvel smiled, closing her eyes. "You helped me when I was sick. And you were so kind as to let me stay with you, even after all the trouble I caused you."

"Yeah, you are the queen of trouble."

"I thought for the longest time that maybe you hated me…"

"Why would you think that?"

"You weren't really giving me a reason not to. You just seemed like you didn't want me around. Like you didn't care about me. The stoic attitude, the comments you make, even that look you give me most times are reason enough…"

"I didn't know it was giving off that kind of signal."

"What did you think it was doing?"

"Truth be told, you are pretty annoying at times."

"Gee…thanks…"

"And you're always getting me involved in these really awkward situations, that usually turn bad for me. You nearly killed me once before, and you almost burned down my house four days ago. But…I guess, I don't mind any of it."

"Really?" Marvel looked up at him, surprised he of all people would even say that.

"My life was pretty boring before you came along. I was even cooping myself up in that workshop all day, doing nothing but work. But now, I'm actually able to get out and do things. No matter how bad they usually turn out. I guess I have you to thank for that."

"Well, I'll take the credit then."

"But it's not only that, I guess…"

"More credit?"

"I was used once." Tails looked up at the glowing ceiling. "This girl…I thought we were a perfect match. But then…she betrayed me. I didn't think I could ever love someone ever again after what she did. Even when I saw her again in the past, she tried to use my affections for her own little games. After all that, I just decided to stop caring about love altogether. I didn't want anyone else close to me anymore. But then you stumbled in, and I was forced to rethink everything. That, you know, maybe there was someone out there who was right for me after all. Someone who wouldn't betray me, or leave me stranded without a word like she did. I guess, that's why I like being around you."

"Is that a confirmation of your feelings toward me?" Marvel smiled.

"I don't really know what it was, but you call it like you see it anyway."

"Then what's taking you so long to say it?"

"Say what?"

"Stop playing dumb!" Marvel punched him in the arm. "You know what I mean. C'mon! We're in a tunnel for crying out loud! Don't you have any sense of romance?"

"Were you not just listening to what I said?"

"Point being! You need to fess up and just admit it!"

"Admit what!"

"That you love me!"

Tails froze up completely. He didn't expect Marvel to throw the "L" word out there so suddenly, but then again, he should have seen it coming. When it came to romance, Tails was as clueless as they come. The huffing hedgehog leaning on him didn't look like she was in any mood to talk to him unless he did manage to somehow find the will to say it. But even if that confidence came, would he actually say it with the right intentions? "Marvel…you can't expect me to…"

"Say it!"

"We've only been living together for a month! We barely know anything about each other, it's just a little too soon for me to admit that."

"It's only been about a month, yet somehow, we've already crossed milestones reserved for 2 or 3 years max!"

"Huh?"

"You even saw me naked!"

"That was **entirely** your fault!"

"**My** fault, but **your** erection!"

"Don't say things like that here!"

"It's time we started doing things more suited of a couple! I don't want to continue just being called "that girl" or "your female friend" and such!"

"Then what do you expect me to do?"

"At least ask me out or something!"

"Fine! Go out with me! I said it, now will you please calm down!"

"Ok." Marvel said, sullying back into her resting position beside him.

"_That was easy." _Tails thought to himself. "Wait a minute! Ok what?"

"Ok, I'll go out with you." Marvel said, grinning.

"So you mean…"

"Umhm…" She shook her head. "That means you can start calling me pet names like sweetie and baby."

"I don't think I'm going that far."

"Then at least go this far." Marvel said, leaning up and landing a quick one on him. Tails felt the sensation of cotton candy press against his lips and he drew back almost immediately. Marvel was left staring at him, with a more than satisfied grin on her face.

"W-W-What was that!" Tails yelled.

"It's called a kiss you big wimp." She laughed. "You've done it before, so it should be no surprise to you."

"I was wasted!"

"So was I."

"Ugh!"

"At least this time, I actually meant it…"

"Yeah…this time…" Tails said, coming back to terms with what had just happened. True, it wasn't his first kiss, but it was the first one that actually felt meaningful. As Marvel continued to stare at him, he watched as the tunnel in front of them went almost completely dark. They must be nearing the end of the ride, but he didn't want to leave just yet. The way the girl was staring at him, her eyes transfixed on him, made him think that the ride could go on for at least another few minutes. Marvel, giving the older boy a lustful glare, climbed on top of him and placed both hands on his shoulders. Tails tensed up a little, not sure what to expect from the amorous pink hedgehog. But he remembered her saying a few choice words before they left the mall. He supposed this is what she wanted to finish. The atmosphere was right. The music made it all the more romantic. And not to forget that she was straddling him. Tails had never before been that close to a girl, but now he had one on top of him. The very feel of her warm body and her soft legs rubbing against his made his blood boil. He was sure if the moment went on any longer, he might not control what could happen next. He slowly reached up with his hands and placed them on her hips, drawing her in closer. As he looked into her eyes, ever drawing near, he watched as they began to slowly close and as her lips drew closer to his. When suddenly, she stopped, and her head drew back fiercely, before she let out a loud sneeze. Tails felt the spray against his face, but wasn't too sure how to react. Marvel sniffled, and then looked at him with a disappointed expression. "Yeah…I just ruined the mood, huh?"

"I have to go to the restroom."

The tunnel felt like it could go on forever, but when it finally came to its end; both Tails and Marvel were thrust into the bright lights of the lobby, where the enthusiastic personnel waited for them. He reached out with a long hook and drew the boat back onto the platform, and when they were ready, jumped out back onto solid ground. Tails stretched his arms out wide, yawning, while Marvel hugged George and looking as if she were about to cry. "What's the matter?" Tails asked her.

"Nothing." Marvel pouted.

"It's something."

"I sneeze when I get really nervous…"

"Don't worry about it."

"I am worrying about it. My first few minutes of being your girlfriend and I screwed it up."

"Stop saying things like that. We live in the same house."

"Oh yeah…" Marvel cheered up a little.

"Then you wanna have s-"

"NO!" Tails screamed at her. "Anyway, I have to go to the restroom."

"Hot and bothered are we now?" Marvel teased. Tails narrowed his eyes and frowned.

"No, I just ate too much today. My stomach feels uneasy."

"Whoa, don't want to know your business there. Go handle it, will you?"

"Well I can't just leave you out here by yourself." Tails said, noticing it was already dark out. "I wouldn't be a very good boyfriend if I left you all alone at the Carnival, now would I?"

"I suppose you wouldn't."

"Don't worry, just stay here." He said pointing over to the restrooms just a ways off. "I'll be back before you know it."

As Tails ran off in the direction of the little fox's room, Marvel stood around and stared out at the black sky. There were plenty of stars out that night. All in all, she figured the day was one of her happiest days since living with Tails. And now, they had even furthered their relationship a little more. She couldn't ask for anything more. Happy, she hugged the stuffed animal and danced around in circles. "I can't believe it! Do you see that Georgie! I'm his girlfriend! TEE HEE HEE!"

The pink hedgehog continued to waltz around with the stuffed rabbit, oblivious to her surroundings. That is, until she bumped into someone while spinning. She turned around sharply, rubbing her head. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to run into you!"

As Marvel glanced up at the person she had been so clumsy as to nearly mow over, she saw a large, bulky figure standing before her, draped in an all-black cloak. And that the figure wasn't alone. Tagging behind him were four others, all dressed the same way. The pink hedgehog continued to stare at him, clutching the stuffed rabbit tighter. "Ummm…hello?"

The figure didn't answer, but just continued to stand there motionless and silent. Marvel took a step closer, to get a better look at the face beneath the hood, but found it almost impossible to see thanks to the mask her wore over his face. Taking her right hand waving it while jumping up and down, she tried to gain its attention. "Hey! Hey you! I'm talkin' to you, mister!"

Still no response. Pouting, Marvel backed away, not really sure what else she could do. "Oooooookkkkkkkk? I…uh….better get going then…"

As soon as her back was turned, Marvel felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck. When there's four, seven foot tall giants behind you, you might have felt a little tingle as well. But this wasn't the kind of tingly feeling she got when she turned her back to strangers. It was the feeling she got when cold metal made contact with her body. In an instant, she whipped around into a spinning heel kick; snapping away the outstretched hand of the giant robed figure that had obviously tried to strangle her. Before she had time to even react to the sharp pain that shot through her foot, three giant bodies came rushing at her. The other three figures lunged at her, and she managed to dodge each one of them by jumping into the air. "Hey! This is **not** how you treat a girl on her first date!"

Looking up, the first figure raised his hand, and a loud boom later, sent it flying straight towards the falling hedgehog. "Oh cra-!" Marvel yelled, before her entire upper body was wrapped in steel coils and brought forcefully to the ground with a crash. The stuffed bunny fell out of the air, landing a few feet away from the captured hedgehog. Recovering from the fall, Marvel looked up through teary eyes, at the large cybernetic arm that had her pinned to the asphalt. "Yeeeeaaahhh, Now I see it. Shooty arms and hard bodies…robots…yeah…"

"They're more than just robots." a voice came from behind her. As she watched to the side of her, Marvel saw a pair of black heels walk closer to her, before stopping to pick up the stuffed rabbit. Walking right past her, Marvel stared at the back of the female fox, clad in a lacy black dress, and clutching the rabbit by the ears. "God, this thing…it's repulsive."

Marvel remained speechless, as she heard the familiar accent of the girl in front of her. It had been a long time since she felt the true sensation of anger, but it was definitely manifesting now. As the girl turned around to face her, staring down at her with dangerous red eyes, she spread a wide grin and chuckled. "Still playing with dolls, are we? Of course, my dolls are better. Wouldn't you agree?"

"You…" Marvel stared spitefully.

"Yes, my dear little sister…**Me**."


	10. Here Comes A New Challenger!

**Characters Thus Far: **

Miles 'Tails' Prower - Whose night is in for a shocking conclusion

Marvelous St. Vanderburgh – Whose night is in for a shocking reunion

Vanessa St. Vanderburgh - The one doing the shocking. Literally.

**A/N: Seeing as how I'm long-winded most of the time, I'll be keeping future chapters short and sweet. Eventually breaking up certain chapter into parts. As always, enjoy the story, and feel free to review!**

* * *

Marvel couldn't help but show a little anger in her expression. It's not every day you get attacked by cyborgs under the command of your surprisingly not dead elder sibling. But this was just as much a surprise as that was. She definitely wasn't expecting it. "Vanessa…" the pink hedgehog murmured.

"So you haven't forgotten me after all." The white fox smiled, one of her cyborg companions lifting her up and placing her on its shoulder. "I'm so touched."

"I wish I could touch you right now."

"We both know how that would end."

"Grrrrrrrrrr" Marvel growled.

"But enough of that boring dribble. How have you been?"

"Fine…just perfect."

"That's wonderful." Vanessa said in a cheery tone. But then her expression soured, and she gave the younger girl a vengeful glare. "I wish I could say the same thing."

"Oh really?" Marvel said sarcastically.

"I'm pretty sure that little _ride_ you took us on must have made you feel pretty sick. But looking at you now, I guess you're okay with that."

"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I don't think somebody who's tied up on the ground is busy at all."

"Touché."

"My, I almost forgot about this thing." Vanessa said, holding up the little pink rabbit she had took earlier. Marvel's eyes grew wide as she watched the other girl grip Georgie's head and smile. "You must have grown attached to it by now. Probably even gave it a pet name. Like the five hundred other dolls in your bedroom."

"Give him back!" Marvel yelled. But Vanessa just shook her head.

"Oh, so you just expect me to give it back to you, right? Just like you aren't going to give me my milk back, right?"

"What?"

"Wait, don't tell me you've forgotten already? That little fiasco you pulled a few weeks back? Honestly, who else do you think would hijack a truck load of dairy products?"

"That was you?" Marvel actually sounded disappointed, rather than surprised.

"It's so hard to find good flunkies these days. Honestly, those pathetic little weasels…couldn't do anything right. So…**fucking** retarded, I **swear**."

"You definitely dropped the ball on those ones…"

"Yeah, I realized that after I saw how badly they got their bloody asses kicked. And all by a certain pink annoyance."

"He called me a bitch."

"Are you not?"

"NO!"

"And because I hijacked a salesman for this supposed legendary Dr. Soyfon's Mega Milk, using brute force and violence, that makes **me** a bitch?"

"Yes."

"Right." Vanessa said smoothly. But that tone she took was one Marvel knew all too well. A second later, Vanessa's right hand began faintly glowing with a light blue aura, before suddenly, the pink rabbit in her possession was immediately ripped apart by a large explosion of fluff and cotton. Marvel could only watch on in horror as her beloved stuffed animal # 501 was destroyed before her very eyes. And at the hand of the now smiling fox that had obviously destroyed more before it. "Ooooohhhhhh, I just **love** doing that."

"You bitch!"

"I already agreed to that."

"Why do you always have to do that!" Marvel felt like crying. "Why do you always have to destroy my stuff!"

"Because that's how revenge works, you blundering idiot! You took something from me first!"

"Like what! What did I ever take from you!"

"Let's start with everything! You took my room! You took my food! You took favorite mechanical pencil with the little hearts on it that you never gave back! Should I continue?"

"I get the point."

"But most importantly, you took something that a girl can never truly get back. My dreams."

"Your…wait, huh?"

"I had heard about this Mega Milk through a very interesting information line. I swear, the people in this world amuse me. But from all the information I gathered, one piece truly struck me. This milk that had wondrous properties. One that could even, well, make a girl like me into a girl like you."

"I'm not following you."

"Oh my gosh…" Vanessa palmed her face. "Must I spell everything out for you?"

"Like you used to do with the spaghetti soup?"

"Milk! Breasts! **Fuck!**"

"Tch…HA! That was your grand scheme?" Marvel laughed. "That's what that whole heist was about?"

"If you haven't noticed." Vanessa said, running her right hand down her chest. Right down her chest. Like, she had little to no resistance doing so. Her hand traveled in virtually a straight line. "Even with all this power, I'm still lacking in certain departments. Departments that you, sister, have had no trouble with."

"It's not all fun and games, you know. I can't lie on my stomach at night."

"And that milk would have tripled my success at growth. But, as usual, you have to ruin everything."

"Dearly sorry." Marvel narrowed her eyes.

"And now among everything you've taken, you now have to take my breasts from me too? Honestly, did you think I was just going to sit by and let you do as you wished? Oh no…I'm going to return the favor."

"What do you mean?" Marvel grew nervous, hearing that familiar tone in her voice yet again."

"Simple. You took something from me. Now I'm going to take something from you."

"You just killed Georgie!"

"That was payback for the pencil. This, is something much more valuable to you."

"Wait…" Marvel said, looking around. She could have sworn there were four of Vanessa's cybernetic henchmen around. But now, she realized that there were only three. She looked up at her sister with burning fire in her eyes. "Don't you dare!"

"I was wondering when you'd realize it. Never too quick on the uptake are you lass?"

"If you even so much as lay a finger on him!"

"We both know how that would end."

"Vanessa! I'm gonna-"

"But you don't have to worry. I won't be the one touching him."

* * *

Tails had never been so confused in his life. He had never had problems using the restroom before. But now, he found it one of the most physically demanding jobs he's ever had to do. The zipper on his newly acquired pants was a mystery to him. And it took great amounts of concentration to get the form correct. But once he had it, he was solid gold. But solid gold is a sketchy word choice for what he was doing at the current moment. He had taken so long getting through his clothes that he was sure Marvel had wandered off somewhere. He was almost counting on it. Finishing up his business, he made short work of the zipper, before traveling to the sink to wash his hands. Or gloves. Or whatever. Either way, he frowned. It had been a long day. Too long for his tastes. Sure, it was fun, the most he'd had in a long while. But it was also draining. Spending the whole day with Marvel would be to blame for that. As he leaned down to splash his face with water, he rose again, looking into the mirror in front of him. And that's when he noticed something black behind him. Something that wasn't there a second ago. As he returned to his full standing position, his hands still submerged in the running water, he could make out the shape of a very large figure. Wrapped in a black cloak, and a red mono-eye glowing fiercely under the hood. Tails' expression went blank, before he grew irritated, that somehow this wasn't going to end well.

Marvel's ears were hit with a sudden burst of yells as noise erupted from the restrooms a ways off from her. Suddenly, she witnessed the same mechanical arms that bound her tear through the small hut in numerous places; puncturing large holes in the walls. And then, she saw the twin-tailed fox burst through the ceiling of the restroom before it was met with a very large explosion that sent him barreling out of sky and landing hard on his back just a few feet from where she lie. As he looked over at her through squinted eyes, he immediately became even more annoyed than he was before he was catapulted into the air. "What…did you do this time…?"

"Not really the time for that, sweetie." Marvel nervously grinned. She was glad that he was mostly Ok. But wasn't so sure he was aware of the present danger behind him.

"Just what's going on here…who puts a proton cannon on a robot!" Tails yelled. Before realizing the legitimacy of his own question. "Wait…Yeah. **He** would."

"I'm afraid this is a little bit different." Tails heard a voice behind him. This strangely sounded like Marvel's. However, that wouldn't make much sense if the pink hedgehog were laying tied up on the ground right in front of him. Picking himself up, he then found himself meeting eyes with a beautiful white fox, whose red eyes only seemed to paralyze him.

"Who are you? And what do you think you're doing?"

"Just having a little fun."

"You call this fun? You just blew up a restroom! And I nearly got obliterated! That's fun?"

"Yes."

"You're crazy!" Tails roared. "And what did you do to Marvel! Why is she tied up like that!"

"She's not."

"What?" Tails glanced back at Marvel, or where Marvel had just previously been. In the spot she had last occupied, were the shattered remains of the steel binds that constricted her, and the cyborg behind them falling backwards from the kick that had just blew out its face."

Through the moonlight, he quickly saw a large shadow leap over him, and turned around sharply when a loud crash of thunder erupted behind him. But as soon as he looked, he found nothing but a trail of smoke, followed by two heavy explosions that resulted from the two cyborgs before him splitting down the middle and exploding. The shockwave blasted him backwards, but he managed to propel himself into the air in time to avoid hitting the ground. "What the-!"

Tails couldn't explain what was going on around him. All around the carnival, he heard thundering booms and witnessed as large lightning bolts ripped through the park. All the while, seeing a white and pink flash of light bouncing around the carnival, damaging anything they came into contact with. The Ferris Wheel, the tea cup ride, even Rotor's new contraption that had been gaining some attention. While all of this was happening, he just floated in the air, awestruck. He couldn't believe what was going on. Marvel, and the mysterious white fox, were having a grudge match that threatened the safety of everyone at the Carnival, which was apparent at the fact that most people had realized that the Ferris Wheel was on fire. Luckily, everyone made it out of there in time. Or so he thought. As he flew closer, he could make out a distressed couple, who may not have been so distressed that the ride was on fire as they were that their make out session had been cut short when a lightning bolt ripped through the glass of the gondola.

Tails flew up to them, and landed on top of the red and gold gondola. He opened the safety door on the ceiling and reached in. "C'mon! Give me your hands!"

The frightened couple each took hold of one of the boy's hands as he leaped up from the gondola and carried them safely to the ground. As they took off with the rest of the panicking bystanders, Tails turned his attention once more to the two girls fighting. "How could she…" He became upset. "How could she do this?

His answer would have to wait, as he found that the menacing shadow that had attacked him earlier was back for round 2. Landing in front of him, the cyborg tore away its cloak, revealing several proton cannons littering its chest, before running full speed at him. Tails threw up a defensive posture, as the machine leaped into the air and raised its arm to strike him. But just as it had, a pink streak blazed by, ripping the cyborg in half. Tails knew what was coming next, and curled himself into a ball, feeling the immense heat from the explosion engulf him. What would have fried a normal person didn't seem to hurt him at all, as he uncurled and found the small embers on his outer layer of clothing. That's when he remembered that his clothes were flame resistant. And made of material similar to that of steel. Had Marvel really saved his life on this one? Or did she anticipate something like this happening from the very beginning? Once again, Tails was completely baffled by Marvel. Baffled, and battered, as he heard a loud crackle of thunder just behind him, before his spine was met with the full force of the younger pink hedgehog. The two of them bounced across the ground until they found that there was no more ground to travel across, and were met with a very cold reception.

Luckily, the water wasn't deep at that end of what used to be the Tunnel of Love. As he rose from the water, Tails glanced to his side at the pink hedgehog who was standing in a fighting position; a pair of brass-knuckle-like objects in her hand. Though she didn't really seem to be concentrating on him at this point. "Marvel, what are you doing!" Tails yelled at her.

"Now's not a really good time to explain." She said with a hint of urgency.

"Then when is? This has gotten out of hand! First I get attacked in the restroom, and now the entire Carnival has been turned into a war zone! People almost got seriously hurt! What were you thinking!"

"Now is **really** not the time, sweetie!" Marvel said again.

"And now isn't the time to throw out terms of endearment either!"

"Oh look at that. A lover's quarrel." Tails heard the voice of the white fox as she landed gracefully onto the edge of a small boat. "How uncute."

"Your fight's with me, Vanessa! Leave him out of this!"

"Too little, too late, my dearest little Marvelous."

"She seems to know you pretty well." Tails spat at Marvel, not sure if he should be steeling himself for a fight.

"Yeah…well…"

"You mean to tell me she never told you?" Vanessa said surprised.

"Told me what?" Tails wondered.

"Oh…Oh, oh yes! **This** is interesting…"

"What?"

"You know what, Marvelous. I've changed my mind." Vanessa said, raising her hands in the air.

"How come I don't like that?" Marvel grew tense.

"I **was** going to kill the boy. But now I think I'm going to change tactics."

"What! Kill me! What are you saying!" Tails' mind raced.

"Let me show you." Vanessa said, leaping from the boat and landing in the water. If Marvel were sharp on her toes, she would have realized exactly what Vanessa was doing, but from the frantic yelling coming from the boy beside her, she wasn't aware of the one single fact that had always caused her fights with her sister to end in defeat.

"GET BACK!" Marvel screamed, pushing Tails away with enough force to knock the wind out of him. He landed on the concrete steps just outside the water's edge. And just in time to see the small pond jump to life with arcs of electricity that ultimately caught the girl in its path.

"Marvel!" Tails howled, as a moment later she sank to her knees and onto her side, unconscious. Looking at the snow white fox, who was smiling, Tails found himself enraged. "What did you do to her!"

"Obviously, I just electrocuted her." Vanessa chuckled.

"You bastard!" Tails rushed at her. But in the split second that he did, Vanessa rushed in and placed a single finger to his forehead, stopping him dead in his tracks. "Wha-"

"Do you want to know what happens to those who touch me?" A sadistic smile crept across her face.

Tails would immediately learn the answer to the girl's question, as he felt a searing pain shoot through his head, then his entire body. Then came the numbness. And then, he blacked out.


	11. Hyper Dimension Paranoia : part one

Characters** Thus Far:**

Miles 'Tails' Prower – Foxnapped

Marvelous St. Vanderburgh – Another unconscious pink hedgehog. Probably karma

Vanessa St. Vanderburgh – Textbook definition of a Masochist

**A/N: R&R plz. Other than that, enjoy.**

* * *

Have you ever taken a bullet to the head and survived? With the bullet still stuck somewhere in your cranial membrane? And it just so happens to be on fire? That's how Tails would describe the pain he was feeling at that moment. Whatever ordeal he had been through, he was happy he was alive. But also wishing that he weren't. His whole body felt numb, his muscles ached, and his hearing fading in and out. Though, the only thing he could hear was faint whispering noises. In fact, all he could do **was** hear. His sight was completely gone, and his arms and legs wouldn't respond to any commands either. His tails barely responded to him at all, and simply put, this was not the kind of situation he wanted to be in.

But besides his own plight, one other thing was on his mind. The fate of the pink hedgehog he watched electrocuted right before his eyes. Was she alright? What became of her after he passed out? Marvel was tough, and he knew that. But nothing had prepared him for what had happened then. Or the way he felt when the girl could barely raise a scream before she sank to her knees and collapsed. Whatever happened, he had to find out. But a more pressing matter crept up to him. Tails felt something soft run up his stomach, tickling him, and were it the time for it; maybe it would have invoked a small giggle out of him. But at that moment, all he could sense was uneasiness. Soon, the boy found his chest pounded by a great amount of weight, as if someone had suddenly decided to jump on top of him. He wouldn't be so shocked to learn that's exactly what happened. In an instant, Tails got that feeling he usually had whenever Marvel was close to him. And by close, he meant right on top of him. It had happened on more than one occasion, so he knew the sensation well. The heavy, yet light weight of a girl's body. The way her legs straddled his chest. The heat emanating from her lower regions. Except there was one disturbing exception this time around. It **wasn't** Marvel.

"Hey…can you hear me…?" A very familiar voice whispered into his ear.

"Mrmmmru" A garbled language came of his mouth. He found it increasingly hard to speak, like someone had taken an axe to his vocal cords. But once he straightened them out, he began to speak clearer. "Who…What…"

"Oh good, I thought I actually killed you that time. That wouldn't be any fun." The girl on top of him breathed a sigh of relief, which he could easily feel.

"Huh…kill…? What…happened! Where am I! Why can't I see anything!" Tails began getting worked up. He tried to straighten out his arms, but whatever was holding him down, it was holding him down good. His sudden thrashing about earned him a quick and painful reminder of who was in charge of the situation. His body arched off the cold metal slab and slammed back down; his teeth clenched. Breathing heavily, he realized that there was something pressing against his right ribcage; a single finger. And by now, he knew the pain whenever he was shocked. And only one person had done before what had just happened to him. "You…you're the girl…from…"

"That's right." The accented voice said again. "And if you rather not get another jolt, I'd just be quiet."

"Quiet why? What did you do to me? What did you do to Marvel? Where is she? Where is-GAH!"

"I said be quiet." The girl grew annoyed, pressing her finger to his collarbone this time and sending another wave of intense pain through the fox boy's body. "And I have a name, you know. It's Vanessa. But in this instance, you can call me mistress."

"Why would I call you misTAAAAAA!"

"Did I say you could talk?"

"Just what dO YOU WANT FROM MEEEOOOOWW!"

"You really are a fun one." Vanessa laughed. "I can do this all day. But I'm not sure how long you can withstand this kind of torture."

"What…do…" Tails tried to speak, but his rapid breathing and unbearable pain made it difficult beyond measure. "What do you mean…"

"Feel this?" The snow white fox said, pressing a finger to his thigh. A second later, Tails felt the feeling in his already non-feeling-ess leg to completely disappear, followed by the feeling of it being doused in molten hot lava. Which, as anyone would guess, caused a very, very loud reaction. "That was 1,000 Volts. And this?" She said again, doing the same to his other leg. "That was 3,000. Would you care to see what happens if I tried 10,000?"

"No…just…stop…" The twin tailed fox was at his limit. He had never been tortured before, not even by his greatest enemies. At least, not this way. The method this girl used was just unbearable. Judging by the pain in his body, and by her earlier mention, she must have been doing this to him for hours. And she showed no signs of slowing down, or that she wasn't enjoying it. But one thing she probably got a kick out of, was sending her right hand full force into the side of his face. Getting slapped by a girl wouldn't be so bad, if at the same time it didn't send 1,000 volts of electricity through your teeth.

"I'll stop when I've had enough. Who are you to order me around anyway? Last time I checked, I'm not the one chained to a table, am I?"

"You…sadistic…" Tails muttered. This only seemed to please the girl, as he felt the motion of her body lean forward, until he felt that she was hovering just above his face. He could feel her chilling stare, and her smooth, calm breaths directly over his nose. His body didn't know whether it should be aroused, or be completely terrified. But that didn't stop it from emitting the slightest shake every time she inched closer. All he could do was anticipate her next form of punishment. Would she shock him in the heart next? Or maybe she'd shock him somewhere a little more personal? Maybe she wouldn't shock him at all. Maybe she'd start using tools on him. There were endless possibilities, and these ones, he couldn't see. Just then, Tails felt the weight of the girl disappear, as she hopped from his body and paced away from him.

"I prefer the term masochist."

"Is there really a difference!"

"Quite."

"Whatever! What do you want with me?"

"My answer for that is simple, really. I want you to learn a lesson."

"Learn? Learn what!" Tails found the girl's answer even more maddening. However, Vanessa crossed her arms and grinned.

"What if I told you that your little girlfriend was keeping a **very** big secret from you?"

"What secret could Marvel possibly be keeping that warrants all this!"

"Can you ask yourself why **you're** the one strapped to a metal slab and not her?"

"Point made."

"Let me make one thing clear to you." Vanessa said, walking over to him. Tails stiffened as she got close, not knowing what she could be trying to pull next. Suddenly, he heard the sounds of a button being pressed on the side of the metal slab that suspended him in the air. Then, he found himself slowly moving into a seating posture, his wrists and ankles still bound to the arms and legs of the now metal chair-like structure that supported him. A moment later, the blindfold from his eyes was removed, exposing him to a dim lit room. The walls and floor were all some sort of burgundy velvet material, and there were numerous candles lit amongst the enormous chandelier on the ceiling directly above him. With all the black marble finishes and numerous, expensive furniture, it looked like something straight out of a wealthy home magazine. Though he found that his vision was still coming back to him, he could clearly see the white fox girl, who still leaned over him as she pushed the blindfold onto his forehead.

Tails had only managed to catch long distance glimpses of her before. And a close up just before she zapped him. Even then, the situation really wasn't geared toward him taking in the time to admire someone who may or may not have been trying to kill him. But just then, he found himself blushing at the beautiful girl lingering over him. Should he have felt guilty for doing so? Probably. "Make w-what clear?"

Vanessa chuckled, taking her rightful place as mistress on the boy's lap, and swinging her legs over the side of the of the chair. She wrapped her right arm around his neck and drew circles on his chest, which, for the amount of silent prayers going through his head, didn't end in electrocution. But Tails could definitely feel his fur standing on end. Mostly due to the fact that wherever her finger traced, there was a small arc of electricity connecting with the surface of his body. Like one of those electric balls that kids played with. "The **truth**."

"What are you talking about? What truth am I supposed to know?"

"You'd think Marvelous would have told you about what's really going on. Has she even mentioned it at all?"

"Mentioned what?"

"A girl you've never met before, claims you're someone you're not, and now the two of you are as a couple? Doesn't any of that make you feel the slightest bit disturbed?

"Well…" Tails thought about it. "I don't know…"

"Can you say that everything she said made sense to you?"

"Wait, how do you even know what she said to me!"

"Oh, please." Vanessa scoffed. "She's my sister. I've listened to her repulsive voice enough to know what trash spews out of it every now and then."

"SISTER!" Tails said in major disbelief. "Marvel's your sister? !"

"Is it not obvious?"

"**No**!"

"Hmph. Who'd have guessed."

You couldn't really blame the fox for being surprised. On one hand, you had Marvel. Your average, ditzy, accident prone teenager with a knack for getting into trouble. And on the other, you had this girl, Vanessa. Someone with a sick fetish for electrocuting people and, surprisingly, the same choice in fashion as the other girl. But when Tails thought about it, certain instances he could see adding up. The way they moved during their fight at the carnival. The fact that they simply knew one another could also be an argument. But above all, it would have had to be that they both exhibited strange abilities. Just like Marvel's ability to use Chaos Control at any given moment in time, and Vanessa's unreal talent for randomly generating electricity seemed out of this world. "If Marvel's supposed to be your sister, why did you attack her back then? And why did you kidnap **me**?"

"All siblings have their reasons for fighting. She simply ruined a certain 'investment' of mine. I was getting even, and you just happened to turn into collateral."

"I don't even know you!"

"And you know her any more?

"I…uh..."

"Face it. She's a complete mystery to you. Everything she does, everything she is...shrouded in a blanket of deceit. She's got you wrapped around her finger and you couldn't even see it. And to think, you might not even be in this situation right now had she decided to make mention of her violent elder sister. Can you disagree with that, boy ?"

"…No…" Tails said in realization that the other fox was more or less right. "But that doesn't mean I don't trust her."

"And what if she lied to you?"

"About what? Marvel told me why she chose to stay with me…she told me-"

"She told you the story of how she once met her knight in shining armor, and how you and that person are one in the same?"

"Basically…yeah. How do you know that?"

"Because you're not the first person she's told that to."

"Not the first?"

"Have you ever heard of the term Miroboilis Reflection?"

"Well…vaguely. I remember someone I know, a walrus named Rotor, mentioned that the Miroboilis Reflection was when you place an object in-between an infinite number of mirrors. The object remains the only constant, while everything else around it can shift depending on where its reflection is located on a different mirror."

"Well done, you earned yourself a treat."

"I'm not an anim…wait…"

"Hasn't it ever occurred to you, a so called Freedom Fighter, that your group has traveled the world many times over, yet you have never encountered a person quite like either of us? You're well aware of her abilities, and I think you're more than aware of mine. I'm sure we would have attracted someone's attention by now."

"That's..." Tails realized what she was saying. Marvel had often said things, certain sentences that she sometimes never finished. Most of the things she did and said rarely made sense either. But here this girl was, speaking of things that he couldn't find a way to argue with. Was she really telling him the truth? "True...I guess."

"Allow me to put your mind at ease." Vanessa said, cupping his chin in her palm and staring into his eyes. "It's because both Marvelous and myself are not from this planet."

"What!" Tails yelled in disbelief.

"I misspoke. What I meant to say was, we're not even from this dimension at all."

"But...how is that possible?"

"Because **you** **made** it possible." The girl said, spreading a wicked grin.

"What are you talking about? How do I have anything to do with this?"

"Oh, it's **all** about you, I'm afraid."

"Will you just tell me what you're talking about alreeeaaaaDDDYYYEEOOW!." The boy found himself once again subjected to a painful treat by the girl on his lap.

"Yell in my face one more time and you'll regret it."

"Fine...just..."

"Then pay attention." Vanessa said, shoving his head back. "The world we herald from, Alsatia, is a world created by the infinite number of negative energies given off by both your world, Mobius of the Prime Zone, and your direct opposite, Moebius. Those energies make not only the entire planet, but the whole universe extremely unstable."

"Cosmic energies given off by our dimensions? What does that have to do with this?"

"Did you really think all of the trouble you endured was due to blind luck? Take a look at what each of your worlds have done. Not just these two, but there are hundreds of other dimensions. You've no doubt run into a number of your counterparts before, have you not?"

"Yeah, I did." Tails said, recounting his not-so-fond memory of fighting a certain mammoth.

"Each time the barrier, the mirror as you put it before, is broken, it causes massive amounts of energy to be released into the Multi-verses. And energy, as you know, has to travel somewhere. Every time such an event has happened, it ruined the very fabric of our universe. Alsatia was created just because of those energies flowing out of control. It is a world created by chaos, that lives and breaths to only sew more seeds of destruction and ruin."

"I...see."

"Now, it seems the fabric of time and space have been sodomized, and it's affected every living being on the planet's surface. You know how each world has its counter-version of a particular being. Because of these imbalances in our world, these counter-versions tend to develop certain...defects. Like Marvelous..."

"W-what do you mean?" Tails didn't like the way she had said that.

"She's a beautiful girl, wouldn't you say so? But I bet her presence makes you feel uneasy. Is it because she resembles someone else you're acquainted with?"

The clues were all there for Tails to put together. And as he pieced the puzzle, his eyes continually grew wider. It was beginning to all make sense. This girl's sudden astrological moon-man language was finally beginning to solve that stigma he had always placed on Marvel. That strange feeling he got whenever he looked at her, or whenever he tried to figure her out, but couldn't. Her stamina and strength. Her sudden and severe mood swings. The way she sometimes behaved insanely. Even her contentment on following him around. They were all characteristics of certain pink hedgehogs that Tails had the pleasure of working with one, and fearing for his life from her insane counterpart. "No...she couldn't be..."

"She never told you her full name, has she?"

"She's never even said **my** name…"

"My sister and I are not related by birth. Our father, Duke St. Vanderburgh, adopted both she and I after a...certain **accident**. And as we grew to understand the world around us, so did we understand the truth about who we really were. My name, Vanessa Sinclair, was given to me by our foster father."

"So then..."

"I don't know what my real name is. Or if I ever **had** one. Marvelous, on the other hand, was given her name by her biological parents. That name was Marvelous Rose."

"Marvelous…Rose…?" Tails felt a sudden chill come over him. "Rose? You mean she's…she's **Amy**!"

"More like she, and a certain psychopath of the same name." Vanessa corrected him. She grew excited, now seeing the fox boy under her began to sweat.

"She's Rosy too? This is all too…unbelievable! That can't be true! None of that can possibly be the truth, can it!"

"Are you asking me, or are you trying to convince yourself?"

"No…that just can't be right…I can't believe it…!"

"I had trouble first believing it wasn't butter either. This world has some amazing things."

"Then…what would that make you? If Marvel is supposed to be the counterpart of both Amy and Rosy, then who are you?"

"It should be pretty obvious..." Vanessa said, narrowing her eyes and smiling.

"You're supposed to be **me**! ?"

"**No**."

"You said it was obvious! What else was I supposed to think!"

"In case you haven't noticed, I only have **one** tail."

"Then…"

"Trust me. You're better off **not** knowing."

"All of this…" Tails lowered his head. Suddenly, he let a small laugh escape his mouth. "All of this is really something. First the party…then Marvel…everything that's happened to me since that night…I nearly die in a restroom, I get kidnapped and tortured by a sadistic girl I don't even know! And now you tell me all of this too! why me? Why did everything have to happen to me! JUST WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ONNNNAAAAWWWWWW!

Vanessa exhaled deeply, removing her fingernail from the boy's chest, and relieving him of the pain that came with being shocked again. "Did anyone ever tell you that you yell a lot? I mean, **a lot**. Nevermind the fact that you're whining like a little bitch."

"First all of that, and now this? Just what am I supposed to believe anymore?"

"If you would just stop whining and listen."

"Haven't I been doing that this whole time!"

"No. You've also been restrained and electrocuted. Fun for me, really, but not so much for yourself. Wouldn't you agree?"

"OBVIOUSLY!"

"Then it's high time I let you in on that little secret." Vanessa said, tapping her finger against one of the steel cables that bound his wrists. "I think you'll find it **most** interesting."

"What? Why are you...?" Tails grew aggravated. "You put me through all that just to let me go?"

"I was just having fun earlier. But the mood is definitely dead now."

"You said you were originally going to kill me!"

"And Marvelous said the same thing when you found her in your bed, did she not?"

"She only said that one time! Wait, **how** do you even know that?"

"Waking up in strange places and threatening to kill someone? it's an old habit of ours."

"There's no way I'm going to listen to you after that! Sure, what you're saying sounds plausible! But how do I even know I can trust you after everything you did? You destroyed the Carnival, you **tortured** me, and for someone's sister, you had no hesitation in dropping her to the ground! How am I **possibly** supposed to trust **you**!"

Vanessa sighed, sliding off of him and onto her feet. "Well, what if I told you that all of your dimensional counterparts are dead, and **you're **the only one left?"


	12. Hyper Dimension Paranoia : part two

**Characters thus Far:**

Marvelous St. Vanderburgh - Alternate dimension pink puff with a personality disorder.

Miles 'Tails' Prower - Will probably never look at Amy the same ever again.

Vanessa St. Vanderburgh - Is she a Villain, or just plain psychotic? It's hard to tell.

Sonic the Hedgehog - Seems to have matured a lot in such a short time. Or has he?

Amy Rose - You already foresee something bad happening to her again. You just know it.

* * *

Marvel awoke with a searing pain in her head. She shot up, almost out of impulse, but couldn't move an inch. Her body felt like it had been thrown into a blender on high, then smashed into a torpedo tube and launched into the depths of the sea. Quite descriptive. A moment later, she could make out a few white objects moving back and forward on the opposite end of the room. Looking directly above her, she was blinded by a series of high-intensity lights. The kind doctors used when they had patients strapped to an operating table. Much like how she was strapped down now. When she realized it, she felt something sharp prick her upper arm. Looking over, she saw a figure in blue scrubs and a white coat leaning over her. And in her arm, the blood drawing device that was responsible for the sharp prick. Staring down the barrel of a gun was nothing but child's play to the pink hedgehog. But when she was staring down the long end of a needle; now that was something that she found petrifying. Not petrifying enough to keep her tied down, apparently; for as soon as the duck faced quack in the coat removed the device from her arm, he met the full force of the girl's boot to the chest. The two nurses behind him were subsequently toppled over, and the traumatized pink hedgehog snapped her restraints and soon found herself posted in the corner of the ceiling. If she were a masked superhero in red and blue spandex, she'd have no problem hanging to the wall. But after realizing she lacked this trait, she immediately fell back to the floor, but not before plowing into a metal cart, spraying medical tools everywhere.

Springing back to her feet, the frantic pink hedgehog watched as the doctor on the floor screamed for help, and a moment later, two guards came rushing into the room. "S-security! Stop her! Hold her down!"

"Hey you! Hold it right there!" The two canines approached her. However, the girl was in no mood to go back onto that gurney and get pricked again. So she did what any other girl in her position would do.

"No way, Jose!" Marvel yelled, grabbing the guard by the wrist and flipping him onto his back. Without missing a beat, she somersaulted into the air, grabbing the second officer by the head before coming back down and throwing him into the nurses, who were just so unlucky as to have gotten back on their feet.

With her rampage growing, Marvel dashed out of the open door, scaring an elderly patient, before bolting down the hallway. One of the downed guards painfully reached for his radio as he and the others recovered from the attack. "All units! Be on the look-out for a crazy pink hedgehog! Emphasis on the word crazy! She's to be considered dangerous! Apprehend her at once!"

* * *

Sonic and Amy waited at the front desk of the hospital as the clerk checked the computer for the name they had just given her. "Ah, here she is." The elderly bird said, adjusting her glasses. "7th floor, room 319."

"Thanks." The blue boy said, heading towards the elevator. Amy wasn't so excited to be in a hospital, but that wasn't the only reason. She still wanted to know why she was there to see **her**. She and Marvel had never gotten along, since the first night they had met. But after the bizarre events of the night before, it seemed a little less than coincidental that they'd be paying her a visit. As they entered the elevator, Sonic pressed the 7th button and waited for the doors to close. As soon as they did, the pink girl beside him let out a long sigh. "For crying out loud, why do you keep doing that?" Sonic asked her, annoyed.

"Because I don't want to **be** here." Amy pouted, crossing her arms.

"I didn't **ask** you to come, either." Sonic shot back.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to let you come see her by yourself!"

"And that's because?"

"She's a slut! There's no telling what she'd do if the two of you were suddenly alone!"

"Just because she dresses that way doesn't mean she's a whore. And how do you even know what that is? Aren't you still a bit young to be saying things like that?"

"I'm old enough, thank you!"

"You're not welcome." Sonic said, realizing his painful ride with Amy was finally drawing to a close as the big, red number above the door reached seven. As the little bell rung and the doors opened, Sonic's eyes widened as he watched another pink hedgehog come barreling around a corner, knocking over a nurse with an IV drip and heading in their direction. It wouldn't have surprised him that much if it weren't for the fact that she was being chased by a handful of security guards blowing whistles and waving knife sticks.

"Hey…You! Sop… that girl!" One of the guards said, clearly out of breath. Obviously Marvel had done something to warrant her immediate capture, but handing her over would defeat the purpose of coming to talk to her. So Sonic did what any other reasonable adult would do. He pressed the button to the top floor, and stood to the side. Amy had yet to figure out what was going on, on account that she wasn't even paying attention in front of her. She would soon regret that, as she was suddenly sent crashing to the floor, the other pink girl wrapped in a mess on top of her from the dive she had just performed into the closing elevator doors. Sonic winced as he watched the two of them collide, but even more so at the sound of the security guards slamming into the other side of the door.

"Well, that was a freebie." Sonic grinned.

"Ow, bugger…" Marvel rubbed her head. "Hey, you're that Speedy fella'!" She glanced up at Sonic.

"Yeah, I am. But the **name** is Sonic."

"UGH! GET OFFA ME!" Amy screamed, kicking the other girl off of her. As they stood up to face one another, Sonic could swear he was watching a mirror act. Both girls displayed the same look of disgust as they stared at one another. "You…" Amy growled.

"Oh great…" Marvel copied.

"Um, can we skip the looming cat fight?" Sonic announced, pushing a finger to Amy's forehead and shoving her away. "There's something I need to ask you…uh…"

"It's Marvel, remember?"

"Well, Marvel. You were with Tails last night at the Carnival, right?

"You bet!"

"And as you probably know, there was a certain 'incident' at the Carnival last night, right?"

"Uh…" Marvel stopped for a moment. "What **ever** do you mean?"

"I move fast. So forgive me when I say I can see other things moving fast too."

"You mean you saw all that?" Marvel looked surprised.

"No. You just happened to destroy the chili-dog stand just before I could get my hands on one. You could say I was a little aggravated."

"Oops." Marvel said, hitting herself on the head.

"But beyond that, when all the dust settled, I got worried and went looking for Tails, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I was hoping you knew something about where he is. He usually answers his phone, but he's not picking up. And when I went by his house, he wasn't there either."

"Oh…yeah…" Marvel said, hanging her head. The truth was, she didn't even realize it until Sonic had mentioned it. When she was knocked out by Vanessa, it seemed probable that the girl would have taken him hostage. "I was with him…but then…I don't really remember what happened after that."

"Oh, yeah. Rotor found you unconscious in a pool of water. The way it looked, you got hit by a loose electrical wire or something. So he called an ambulance and you were brought here."

"I see…" Marvel concluded. She was sure Vanessa was up to something. Why else would she even need to kidnap Tails? Unless, of course, she knew something that the little pink combat maid didn't. Whatever the case, she couldn't waste time. She needed to find her sister, and fast. "Well, thanks for the chat, mate, but I have to take my leave now."

"Yes, **please**." Amy mumbled.

"But before that, can you do me a favor?"

"What?" Sonic asked.

"Can you hold your finger out, like you're pointing it?"

"Like this?" Sonic said, doing as the younger girl asked.

"Yeah! Now move it over a bit. Right here." Marvel grabbed his hand and positioned it right in front of Amy. "That's perfect. Thanks!"

"Why am I doing this?" Sonic looked confused. However, Marvel just jumped into the air and onto the light fixture on the ceiling; hanging herself upside down.

"You'll see."

As they neared the top floor, Sonic could already hear the loud stomping noises coming from the other side of the door. As the elevator doors slid open, Sonic was left with his finger pointed at Amy, and a plethora of guards charging in a heavy sprint to finally catch the pink nuisance. Taking the blue boy's cue, they jumped into the elevator, and tackle the defenseless Amy to the ground. Meanwhile, Marvel swung from the ceiling and into the hall, dashing away. Charging over yet another elderly, Marvel ran full speed into the window at the end of the 17th floor hall and shattered it as she jump to the outside. Sonic didn't question whether or not she'd survive the fall, but reveled in the fact at just how insane she was. It brought a smile to his face. "I wish I had a girlfriend like her."

Her decision would soon come back to bite her harder than the little shards of glass in her blouse did, as Marvel realized the ill-placed construct directly beneath her. Why someone would build a bank right next to a hospital is beyond her. Why they would build a bank with a roof completely made of glass was even more disturbing. Either way, she sighed, realizing that her hasty exit might just hurt a bit. That was, at least, until she saw that the most perfect of perfect opportunities was about to break her fall.

* * *

Tails shook his wrists, sore from the hours upon hours of bondage by the older fox girl sitting with her legs crossed atop the decorative bookshelf. For the most part, he was just glad to be free. But that freedom may have cost him more than he was willing to pay. "You've kept your end of the deal." Tails said, not expecting the dominatrix to really be honest. Vanessa simply smiled. "What I want to know is why you chose to tell me all this now? And what you meant by all of my counterparts are dead. How did something like this even happen?"

"Victims of circumstance."

"But **how**?"

"Why would I spoil it and tell you now? I want to watch you suffer some more and prolong my fun."

"I don't see how any of this is even funny in the first place!"

"Life on this planet is so simple." Vanessa shot him a solemn glare. "It's nothing like back home."

"Was it really so different?" Tails sensed the girl's mood change again.

Vanessa crossed her arms and let out a long sigh. "I couldn't possibly expect an idiot like you to understand."

"Will you quit insulting me for once today!" He grew angry.

"What? You don't like being teased? You got picked on as a child, didn't you?"

"Just drop it already."

"Ooooooh, I hit a raw nerve. I must be right."

"Look, what does it matter if I got bullied as a kid or not?"

"Is that the worst thing that ever happened to you?"

"What?"

"You must have been so sad and lonely when your parents disappeared, huh?"

Tails' expression darkened at the mention of the girl's words. Clenching his fists, he took one step towards her, before he felt a sudden sharp pain in his leg, and he dropped to one knee. Looking back up, he saw Vanessa's tail touching the wall behind her, an obvious sign that she must have had extensive knowledge of electrostatic discharge principles to be able to strike him from that far away. "How...how do you know about what happened to my parents!"

"I know everything there is to know about this world. And about you. Your likes, your dislikes, even your deepest little secrets. And let's not forget about that little incident 5 years ago..."

"Why you-!" Tails wanted nothing more than to lunge at her. However, she snapped a finger, and a second later, he was stunned with another paralyzing wave of electricity that dropped him on all fours. Vanessa twirled a finger through her short bangs and giggled.

"That hurt? That make you angry? What do you possibly know about pain and anger? In your pathetic, meager existence you couldn't possibly know the depths of those feelings."

"That's not true at all!" Tails immediately dismissed. "I've had my share in life...we all did! What gives you the right to say that!"

"Have you really? You think you know?" Vanessa questioned him. "Have you ever lost something so valuable to you that you gave up hope in the world? Something that meant more than life itself?"

"Of course I have!"

"Like what? You parents? The same parents you were told disappeared and presumed dead? To your surprise, they were alive and well."

"I know that...but it wasn't just about my parents. I missed out on so much in life because of that! I grew up not knowing what a real family was like. I spent years and years on a battlefield, fighting in wars that no child should ever have to participate in. How else was I supposed to think back then? What was I supposed to do?"

"Hmph." Vanessa clutched her sides. " I suppose you and I are more similar than I thought."

"Similar? The two of us?" Tails stared at her. Though her reference was situational in origin, Tails couldn't help but take a more physical look at it. They were different in every way possible, but he couldn't help but think that the two of them kind of resembled one another. While she was no dead ringer for him, certain aspects of her appearance reminded the twin tailed fox of himself. Most notably, her eyes. They were different in color, but he figured there was still something familiar about them.

"You regained what you had thought you lost. A family. Feelings of loneliness and abandonment suddenly didn't matter anymore. You could make up for the lost years of your life. But that's not something I can do."

"W-why is that?"

"Because of **you**." Vanessa's tone suddenly changed, staring at him with eyes so cold it sent a chill down his spine.

"Me? How is any of that **my** fault?"

"Yet another thing my stupid sister failed to tell you."

"What?"

"Didn't you ever wonder how she seemingly already knew about you before you ever knew her?"

"But that's-"

"Didn't it ever cross your mind **once** how she told you that she met a person she says was yourself, but you never met her before in your life?"

"Admittedly, I haven't." Tails didn't realize he had missed something that important.

"Have you ever made a mistake so grave, that you wished you could go back in time and erase what you had done?"

"Of course…I'm sure everyone has had moments like that."

"Well that's exactly what happened with you."

"With me?"

"Does everyone in this story find it necessary to repeat the sentence above?" Vanessa palmed her face. "Yes. **You**."

"I haven't done any time traveling. The whole **Idea** of time travel is sketchy! I mean, traveling between dimensions is one thing, but…"

"You're right. You haven't traveled through time. Yet."

"Are you saying I eventually will?"

"The entire reason I'm alive today is **because** you eventually will."

"You? What does my traveling in time have to do with you?"

"The same you're traveling in time has to do with my sister. She already inadvertently explained that much to you."

"That story…" Tails thought about it. He remembered when he and Marvel had the conversation out in the rain, and the story she told him about man whom she had met. A fox, much like himself. In fact, the way she described him sounded very similar, but she never mentioned anything else about him. Including one key feature. "Sure…she told me about a fox that she had met as a child. But that person, it couldn't have been me. I mean, I don't wear body armor. And I don't even know how to use a crossbow. Not to mention she didn't say anything about him having two of these." Tails said, pointing behind him.

"Everyone changes over time. Some people may even lose limbs."

"That's ridiculous."

"What's ridiculous is that you haven't pieced together the puzzle yet."

"You said I'd be listening to what **you** had to say!"

"And you have. I wanted you to understand only the heart of the matter. And from the information I just provided you, I think someone of your genius can figureout the rest."

"Or you could just say it. I think you've wrung me around long enough! Can't anyone just tell me something without making me guess!"

"Then this chapter would be **entirely** too short."

"What chapter!"

"Nothing."

"Just get to the point!" Tails became aggravated. "What did I do!"

"Sometime in your near future, a certain event takes place right here on Mobius prime. An event that will throw all the other dimensions into complete chaos. And not shortly after, a two-tailed fox was said to have arrived in our world."

"Then, that fox..."

"Mobius Prime's Mile Prower. In other words, **you**."

"So what happened to my world? Why did I just leave?"

"Because all of Mobius was destroyed."

"What!" The fox boy yelled. "D-destroyed? But...but how!"

"Your friends, your family...all gone. But that wasn't the worst of it." Vanessa's grin reappeared.

"What could possibly be worse than that!"

"The fact that **you** were the cause for its destruction."

"That's crazy!" Tails roared. "There's no way you can be telling me the truth! Me? Why would I even do something like that!"

"It's not what you **did **that you should be worrying about. It's what you're **going** to do."

"And that would be?"

"The answer to that...I can't possibly tell you. But whatever it was, you must have really screwed up if you had to travel in time to kill yourself."

"Wait, WHAT!"

"You heard me. And what my sister told you that day was probably the only honest truth she ever told you. As it so happened, a version of yourself came to our world from the future. A version of yourself that originated **here**. Alsatia's you set off to face him once it became apparent that he didn't come to our world to check out the scenery. And ultimately, he was killed."

"So that person Marvel mentioned, it actually **was** me…?" Tails murmured, not sure he could believe everything he was hearing. "But that would mean…"

"**You** killed **yourself**. And subsequently, every other version **of** yourself."

"But why would I do that!"

"You parade around like you're some kind of force for good. Like you're a hero. But the truth of the matter is, no one is ever completely good at heart. All it takes is one push in the wrong direction."

"What would possibly make me do these things..."

"Like I said, I can't tell you. Because I don't **know**. Something that happens in the future, **your** future, is what caused everything in my world to spiral out of control. And that dreadful event, my furry fool, is the sole reason why Marvelous is here."

"And I'm just supposed to wait for this to happen?"

"The only person who could possibly figure out what caused this to happen is you."

"I'm supposed to figure out why I traveled through time and space to kill myself in another dimension!"

"Yes."

"Why doesn't anything ever make sense!"

"There are random springs in the ground, buildings that have ramps, and highways that go in loops. I don't see any cars trying to drive in that shit…what **does** makes sense?"

"Point made."

"What you should understand, is that **your** life, and **your** future, rests in **your** hands. And if **you** can't figure it out, then **you're** going to die, just like the rest of them did."

"And just how am I supposed to figure that out! What am I even supposed to do!"

"I thought you'd never ask." Vanessa jumped down from the bookshelf and placed her hands on her hips. "If you want the answers you're looking for, then come with me."

"And I'm supposed to trust you just like that? What if this is a trap?"

Vanessa stretched her arms over head as she walked to the large, wooden double doors in front of the room. She glanced back at Tails and sinfully smiled "You'll just have to come and see for yourself..."

* * *

The pedestrians inside the bank hit the floor as soon as they heard the loud boom of the shotgun from the masked robbers standing in the entrance. "**Gentlemen!**...please, remain calm." The leader of the gang said calmly. "As you can already tell, this is a robbery. And we will be needing all of your money, as well as your valuables."

Motioning for his flunkies to begin victimizing the people, the leader raised his mask slightly, revealing the bruised face of the weasel underneath. He took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it up. He took a puff and raised his head towards the ceiling to exhale. "I love it when a heist is this simple."

However, while looking through the large, glass ceiling, he managed to see something interesting. A side window of the hospital next door suddenly burst, and a small, pink and black object falling in his immediate direction. What the HEEEEEELLLLLLL?"

Everyone on the ground floor of the lobby was suddenly showered with pieces of glass, as virtually the entire ceiling collapsed. Except for the ring leader of the robbers, who was showered with something else. He didn't even have time to finish letting the lit cancer stick fall from his lips before his face met with a very familiar heel. The weasel crashed to the ground, clutching his snout and yelling madly. "For fuck's sake! What the hell! Ahhhhhhh man! I'm gonna kill you ya' fucking bit…oooooooohhhhhh…" he suddenly stopped cold, looking up at the pink hedgehog standing directly over him with a very, very irritated expression.

"Now you weren't going to finish that sentence, **were** you?"

"No! O-of course not! Forgive me! I-I-I didn't mean it!"

"I thought so." Marvel said, reaching down and grabbing him by the collar of his trench coat. "Hey…I know you..."

"N-no. We've never met before! I've never seen you before in my life!"

"Yeah you have, boss!" The other weasels said in unison, cowering behind one of the bank tellers. "She's that crazy bitch from before!"

"YOU **IDIOT**!" The leader roared, realizing that his fast-mouth'd flunkies had just signed all of their death wishes. As he glanced back at Marvel, who he could now see the fire burning in her eyes, and a sadistic grin creep over her face, he knew it wasn't going to be a quick and painless death.

One by one, the broken masked weasels crashed through the glass entrance of the bank, and out into the street, almost being run over by several vehicles. They were soon reunited with their boss, who was sent barreling into the adjacent wall across the street before sinking all the way down and onto his knees. Just then, he felt the strong grip of the girl wrap around his collar again, as he was swiftly hoisted up to meet her eyes. "Listen! I-I'll give you anything! Money! Jewels! Anything you want! Just please, **please** don't hit me again!"

"Oh, you're going to give me **something** all right." Marvel narrowed her eyes.

"Anything you want! I swear!"

"Oh, I already figured that." The girl tightened her grip. "I know all about you guys. And who it was that hired you to pull off that little stunt you did months ago."

"Y-You do?" The weasel said, surprised.

"Oh yeah. And now you're going to be a good boy and take me to her. **Now**."

"I can't do that! You don't know this bitch! She'll **kill** us!"

"And what makes you think **I** won't?"

"Look, girlie! You can act all tough, but you aint gonna kill nobody! You're supposed to be some kind of good guy or something, right?"

"That's okay." Marvel said, throwing the goon onto the asphalt. She cracked her knuckles and cocked her head to the side. "I'm tired of the goody-two-shoes act anyway."

"Wh-why! What are you going to do to me!"

Marvel laughed to herself, before spreading a wicked grin. "Let's find out."


	13. Hyper Dimension Paranoia : part three

**Characters Thus Far:**

Miles 'Tails' Prower – Is much more of a genius than he thought.

Vanessa St. Vanderburgh – Is seriously a vixen. Maybe even more so than Haman Karn

Marvel St. Vanderburgh – A not so good girl after all.

**A/N: I really didn't know how to begin, continue, or end this chapter. So I just went with whatever came to mind. It feels a bit rushed to me, i don't know. Anyway, hopefully you guys like it. SO, go ahead, and enjoy. Don't forget to leave some reviews!**

* * *

"Wait…what **is** this!" Tails yelled in shock, staring up at a large, sophisticated structure before him. Upon leaving the room he was tortured in, he had found that he was being held captive in a mansion. A very, **very** big mansion. How someone was able pay for a place that big, was astounding. But knowing that Marvel always carried scores of cash, her sister would probably be carrying the same, if not more. As she took him through the endless maze of marble and hardwood flooring and deeper into the lower levels, Tails had thought he was for sure walking into another trap. But when they had arrived to a particularly large, dome-like room, he found that what the girl had to show him was indeed something that he'd need to see with his own eyes. The shiny, silver plating. The egg-shaped core, with various tubes and wires draping down and dangling in the air. He also noticed the small, glowing lights all over the outer frame and numerous computer terminals.

"This, is the product of years and years of technological advancement. Or rather, what's left of it."

"Just what is this thing?"

"This is the device that allowed Marvelous and I to travel to your world. Crossing the mirrored dimension, it should have an equally fitting name. A Cross Gate."

"That's amazing!" Tails said, letting his inner geek take over. Looking over the control panel and various computer bays, he found that it was unlike anything he had ever seen. "These parts…I've never seen hardware like this before!"

"I told you, it's had years of advancement."

"But you said it came from your world. If it's just a mirror or ours, shouldn't the technology that exists be the same as well?"

"They were." Vanessa said, crossing her arms. "However, Alsatia is **far** more advanced than Mobius due to certain events in our history."

"These generators." Tails said, ticking away at a computer console he had managed to get working. "They output nearly the same…no…they actually output **more** than some I've seen using the Chaos Emeralds as energy sources. That's unbelievable!"

"Is it really that surprising?" Vanessa frowned. "It's just a generator."

"Just a generator? JUST a generator?" Tails looked at her as if she had mentioned something blasphemous. "The Chaos Emeralds are the single most powerful objects on the planet! Probably the whole universe! To find something like this, that uses power that is on par with them, it's simply mind blowing!"

"Whatever these Chaos Emeralds are, we never had need of them in Alsatia. We get around simply by the use of raw **power**."

"That's so cool! What I wouldn't give to see that!" Tails said out of impulse, before he realized the white fox sitting on top of one of the consoles shot him a vicious glare. "W-What?"

"You can drool over a pile of scrap metal and wires, but you act completely indifferent when face to face with a woman."

"T-that's not true!" Tails tried to defend himself.

"Then why have you not tried to make any advances on my sister?"

"Well, that's because…uh…well, you see…"

Vanessa snickered, immediately causing the boy on the other side of the room to grow irritated. "Here she is, throwing herself at you. And all you can do is treat her no better than the dirt you stand on. Nothing has changed, even in this dimension."

"I don't treat Marvel that way! I don't even-" Tails stopped. "Wait, what do you mean nothing has changed?"

"Exactly as I said." Vanessa narrowed her eyes. "You'd think after witnessing the same sad tale several times she'd learn her lesson. But the girl is seriously a glutton for having her heart broken."

"You said something like this before." Tails, reluctantly, thought back to his experience of being tortured by the white fox. "You mentioned Marvel saying that story of hers to more than just me. What did you mean by that?"

"This isn't the first time she's met you, remember?"

"Isn't it? Well, aside from a future version of myself I know nothing about."

"The clues are right in front of you." Vanessa said, motioning with her head for the boy to take a gander at the large machine. "This thing has been through a lot a stress. It's been used more times than I care to count. And the majority of those uses came from one, selfish girl. All in an attempt to become noticed by an oblivious, self-absorbed sociopath much like yourself."

"I wouldn't treat Marvel that way! I mean, sure, she's a bit eccentric at times, but…"

"I once remember my sister in her happier moments." Vanessa said, closing her eyes and lifting her head towards the ceiling. "She was a klutz. She was an airhead. She could barely do anything right. But all it took was one promise from a certain idiot that changed her."

Tails gulped. "That promise to come back to her..."

"Of course, that never happened."

"Yeah…because I…I mean, because **he**…"

"You don't have any clue how much that broke her heart, do you?"

"I suppose I can guess. I know the feeling quite well."

"To know the one person you truly thought you loved, was killed right in front of you, and there was nothing you could do about it. It's a very, disheartening feeling."

"Marvel actually saw what happened?"

"Oh she did a **lot** more than just see it happen. Not because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But because she was the one who was always being targeted."

"By who?"

"You."

"W-What?"

"The Miles Prower that came from this dimension's future wasn't originally after the one that fled to Alsatia. His original mission was to kill my sister."

"But why! Why would I do that! I don't have any reason to kill Marvel! I don't!"

"Apparently you did. And when the other stepped in to save her, he was the one who ultimately lost his life. And it was Marvelous that had to live with what happened."

"I can't believe that." Tails balled his fists. "I wouldn't…I wouldn't do that to anyone! Why Marvel? Why did all of this happen!"

"I already told you I don't know. But what I can tell you is what happened as a result."

"The result?"

"When you lose everything you considered dear to you, you lose your entire world. For my sister, her entire universe crumbled. She was devastated. Scared. She didn't talk. She didn't eat. She didn't sleep. All she could do was keep remembering that day. The fear she felt, and the powerlessness that she dealt with. It was enough to eventually wake her up. To force her to see her own weakness. And to force her to change."

"Change in what way?"

"You've seen it firsthand." Vanessa looked back down at him. "Her strength. Her speed. Her power. She was never that strong in the beginning. But it was only after she made that decision that she began to grow stronger."

"Her decision?"

"To join the Pandora Knights." Vanessa's voice grew darker.

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Tails felt his fur stand on end.

"You shouldn't. no one does."

"Why is that? What did Marvel do?"

"What did any of us do?"

"Huh?"

"Your counter-self was not the only victim of your future-self. Many more were counted among the dead, including Marvelous' biological parents."

"What!"

"She was orphaned after that. Wandering the streets in a cloud of delusion. She wouldn't have survived long if we hadn't found her."

"We?"

"There were many of us. Abandoned girls with nowhere to go. Wandering the slums of that disgusting city, doing whatever it took to survive. **Whatever** it took to keep us all together. Being the oldest, it was my responsibility alone to look out for them. And that sometimes meant making difficult choices. I did things I'm not proud of. Things that I'm sure I'll have to pay for one day when Karma decides to finally kick my ass. But it was all I could do to keep the rest of them safe. When things got really bad, and we thought we were at the end of our road…we were suddenly saved, by our foster father. An old, bushy-browed fool named Duke St. Vanderburgh."

"So he adopted all of you?" Tails became interested in the story.

"I immediately questioned why a man of great wealth and power would want to adopt a group of filthy girls like us. But like many other infamous parties, we had made a name for ourselves in a very bad way. I figured he originally confronted and liberated us, just kill us himself. But instead, he made us a deal. One that sounded sweet, and one that none of us could pass up. He promised us **power**. The power to crush those who used us. Who hurt us. Who tortured us. And every second, we bit more and more onto the line, until it was too late to turn back. But no one took the bait faster than Marvelous."

"But why?"

"Because she wanted power. The power to kill **you**."

"W-What!"

"Duke St. Vanderburgh took us in, and left our training to a certain two-tailed fox that he had managed to befriend."

"You mean I-"

"Yes. **You** were the one who taught us how to fight. Who made Marvelous into the person she is today." Vanessa spread a wide grin. "And who made me into the girl that's before you now."

Tails' heart sank a little upon hearing the girl's revelation. Apparently his own nightmarish experiences over the past few hours were a direct result of his own tutelage. Not the first time something he's done backfired on him.

"We spent years honing our skills. Becoming tools of war and destruction. But above all, we became sisters-in-arms, all part of the organization that you yourself created; the Pandora Knights. Our sole mission was to kill anything and anyone he saw as a threat. To destroy anything he wanted destroyed. To travel any dimension…and end those who wished to disrupt the balance."

"And that's where this thing comes in." Tails deduced. "But that would have meant…"

"You still think she's so innocent?" Vanessa smiled. "The perfect little angel you thought you knew, you'd be surprised how much blood she has on her hands. She's no saint…just like me. But the idea of killing didn't seem to turn her in a way that the rest of us were. She remained focused on one goal. And that was to kill you."

"But how? I mean, I'm still alive. If she really wanted to kill me, she would have done so already, wouldn't she?"

"I told you how much this Cross Gate was used. It was originally supposed to be used as a bridge to transport us to our field of operations. But as the dimensional balance shifted, it became harder to even leave Alsatia, let alone get back to it. Eventually, it became just a piece of useless metal, perhaps one final gift left behind by a genius in case things suddenly went to shit. However, Marvelous found another use for it. A way to travel to multiple outer-dimensions in search of her one true enemy. All the while trying to save her one true love."

"So Marvel traveled to other dimensions to save me from myself?"

"A mission she ultimately failed every time. Whenever she found herself growing close to you, the same event would happen. And another Miles Prower died. And as I assumed, it would eventually take its toll on her mind."

"She had to watch the same thing happen again and again…" Tails felt a sudden knot in his stomach.

"After all she went through, and after all she did, she was still powerless to save you. And it was because of that she decided to leave the Pandora Knights, and take matters into her own hands. A decision that didn't sit well with my father."

"What did he do?"

"Obvious. He sent the rest of us after her, and our orders were clear. Force her to stop her foolish behavior and return home, or rip her apart. Guess which one ended up happening?"

"Well, she's definitely in one piece…"

"That's because she's responsible for the death of our sisters."

"What!"

"Nothing was going to stop her from leaving. Even if it meant fighting the same girls she once considered her family. Her hatred for you was a fire that couldn't be extinguished. Neither was the inferno that burned through our home the night of the attack. And as the last remaining Pandora Knight, it was up to me to avenge our sisters, and kill Marvelous."

"Was that the only choice!" Tails grew angry. "There had to have been another way! You were all sisters! Wasn't there any other alternative!"

"There was. And that's why I'm here before you today."

"Huh?"

"My last confrontation with my sister was anything but enjoyable. We were at war with one another. Our one wish was to kill one another. But during our battle, we came across a certain discovery. And that was, the last Miles Prower that existed was going to be targeted and eliminated. And that's when that little **accident** happened."

"Accident?"

"The facility where the Cross Gate was held was damaged, due to the interference of a certain **blue** annoyance. And as the place came crashing down, my sister and I were caught in the explosion. I thought for certain we were going to die that day, but as it so happened, the Cross Gate decided to intervene and transport us out of the blast. Ultimately, we ended up jumping through the mirrored dimension and landing here in your world."

"So that's how she got here? But when?"

"The same night you met her. Needless to say, the ride over wasn't pleasant, and I assume she was probably sick to her stomach."

"That would explain a lot, actually…" Tails remembered the night at the club. "How she knew me already, before I even knew her name. How she seems so comfortable around me. How she knows exactly what buttons to push…it's all because she spent so much time with all the other versions of myself."

"Now you get it." Vanessa clapped her hands. "But I'm surprised you haven't realized the actual situation you're in right now."

"What situation? The fact that I'm being targeted by myself from the future? Yeah, I pretty much got that."

"You're forgetting one thing." Vanessa's grin spread wider. She was obviously messing around with him, but then again, maybe she wasn't. She had given him the whole story. How Marvel was raised, and what she went through. The fact that he had killed himself in front of herrrrrooooooooohhhh…Yeah there it is.

"Crud…" The twin tailed fox's eyes grew wide. "WHAT!"

"What amuses me the most is that **she** doesn't know the truth. How traumatic would it be to learn that the man you've fallen in love with is the same man you want nothing more than to kill?"

"But we should have looked the same! I mean, she was sure to know it was me, wasn't she!"

"Your appearance was a bit **different** then than it is now."

"That doesn't mean anything! If she were to find out that we were one in the same person, she'd-!"

"She'd tear you limb from limb."

"This can't be happening! This just can't be happening!" Tails clutched his head. "If Marvel finds out…I don't even want to think about what she'd do!"

Everything that the fox had known was suddenly thrown out the window. He couldn't concentrate on anything else but the fact that his life could potentially end at any moment by a girl he just mistakenly made his girlfriend. And after what he did to her at the club, and the way he treated her, he would be lucky if his death was smooth and quick.

"I know exactly what she'd do. Would you care to hear?"

"NO! What's wrong with you!"

"Nothing at all."

"You're laughing!"

"Because I find it amusing." Vanessa chuckled.

"This is no time to be laughing! She's going to kill me if she finds out that IIIYEIIYEIIYEEIIII!" Tails roared, watching as the girl sitting atop the console suddenly disappear in a flash, only to then feel something grab one of his tails and a quick jolt of paralyzing electricity sent him writhing to the ground.

"Can you be any more of a whining baby?" Vanessa said, standing over him.

"T-t-t-that w-was uncall-ed f-for!" Tails murmured, his face buried into the floor.

Kicking him onto his back, Vanessa crawled over him, staring down at him and bringing one of her hands to cup his face. "Not only are you being targeted by yourself. But you could potentially make an enemy out of your own lover."

"W-Why is this happening to me…" Tails wondered.

"It must feel terrifying. Especially since **anything** you may say or do at any given moment can trigger a violent impulse."

"That's not making me feel any better!" Tails yelled.

"Then what would make you feel better?" Vanessa said, bringing her face in close to him. Tails grew tense, not really able to move under the weight of the white fox straddling him. "Not fearing your own death?"

"W-what?"

"You asked me before what it was you could do. And now I'm going to offer you a choice."

"What choice?"

"Hmhmhm…it's quite simple." Vanessa said, snapping her hands up and slamming them back down on either side of his head. "The Cross Gate was damaged in the explosion. Other than basic knowledge, I have no engineering genius like yourself to repair it. As it stands, it's highly unstable."

"Is that why you brought me here?"

"No, but that'll have to do for now. You fix the Cross Gate, and you might just have a shot a surviving this whole ordeal."

"How is that! How is fixing that thing going to solve all of this?"

"It won't. You're probably still going to die."

"Then what's the point!

"You choose how you're going to die then. Getting killed by your future self, or getting annihilated by my sister. There's really no difference in how it happens."

"That's blackmail!"

"Oh…if you want to see blackmail, I can show you…" Vanessa said, leaning in close to his face.

"W-wait! What are you doing!"

"I bet I can do a lot of damage. Like for instance, if my sister found out that I did this to you. Oh, how angry she'd be. Maybe even angry enough to kill you…"

"Wait a minute! Don't…!" Tails nervously shrieked, watching as the girl on top of him closed her eyes and leaned in closer; her short bangs brushing against his forehead. One thing was for certain to him now. If he did let it happen, there really was no telling what Marvel would do to him. Considering she ever found out about it. He watched as the girl puckered her lips, ready to make contact with his. He snapped his eyes shut, preparing for the worst, or best, depending on how you looked at it. But just before he felt the shocking lips of the female fox, he heard a sudden loud crash erupt from the other side of the room.

Leaning up, Vanessa brushed her bangs back, and turning around towards the entrance of the room, where the smoking remains of the broken doors now lay strewn across the floor. And standing in the doorway, a pissed off pink hedgehog with a trio of weasels scrambling across the floor in front of her. "BOSS! BOSS HELP US!"

"Oh great…" Vanessa sighed. She barely had a chance to flip to her feet before she raised her forearm to block an incoming punch from Marvel. But unlike before, the other girl was dead serious on settling the score between them once and for all. The sheer force of the blow was enough to temporarily stop the boy's heart for a quick second. Vanessa felt her arm buckle, and a second later, she was flung into a computer terminal. Landing in front of him, Marvel looked down at him with the same malicious glare she had given her sister. But a moment later, she suddenly smiled, kneeling down beside his head.

"Are you ok love?" She helped him to his knees.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, more or less." Tails said, realizing that he was still breathing. He could have sworn she was going to kill him with that look.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. You won't believe how bad I am with directions."

"How'd you even know where I was?"

"I had some help." Marvel said, looking over at the weasels, which were still clambering around on the floor. That's when he noticed their tails were tied together, and that multiple patches of their fur were missing. He also noticed the familiar voices, and the outfits they wore.

"Wait, aren't they…"

"BOSS! HELP US! PLEASE!" The leader said, giving up on his advance and face planting on the floor in front of where the other girl lay in a heap of broken electronics.

"Wait, boss?" Tails thought. "That's it! They were the guys who trashed the market!"

"That really hurt…" Vanessa said, pulling herself out of the wreckage. "But not as much as I'm going to hurt you…" she said, grabbing the leader by the throat.

"Wait, boss! Pleashs! Gish ush anosher chansh!"

"I gave you a **simple** order. Rob a bank, retrieve the money, **bring** me the money. But here, you show up…with your asses tied together like balloons, and NO MONEY!"

"It wash zhat bittsh!"

"Oh, I know who it was." She said, staring at Marvel. "Once again, she interferes in my plans."

"Plans!" Tails yelled. "So it was you that ordered them to rob the market! And then you had them rob a bank too!"

"Restoring the Cross Gate is going to take a lot of money, you know."

"You're rich aren't you!"

"How do you figure that?"

"YOU LIVE IN A MANSION!"

"I never once mentioned that this place was mine. I don't even own this mansion."

"Whatever! You tell me all that stuff, and you never once mentioned anything about being a criminal mastermind!"

"Masterminds don't hire useless henchmen."

"Stuff?" Marvel looked at Tails. "What stuff?"

"Uh…well…!" Tails found his words stuck in his throat.

"Oh, don't worry, dear sister. Since you were so afraid to tell him the truth, I went ahead and let him in on our little secret."

"You what!" Marvel screamed.

"Does that anger you?"

"What did you tell him! You-!"

"Marvel, calm down!" Tails grabbed her wrist. "She only told me the truth! The one that you didn't bother to think was important enough to tell me yourself!"

"W-what do you mean?" The pink girl calmed.

"About how you're from another world, and how you came here to save me from mys...gyaa I mean, uh…that thing! I know about all the other dimensional versions of myself, and I also know about you."

"Oh…" Marvel said, lowering her fists, which Tails didn't even realize were raised. "So then you know that I'm gonna…"

"Why didn't you bother to tell me anything? Why did I have to be strapped to a table and electrocuted before I found any of this out?"

"Well sorry for not telling you you're about to die."

"Sorry? Sorry is all you have to say? Marvel ,don't you think it would have been important to tell me that my life was in danger? Didn't you think that I would want to know something that serious?"

"I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid…"

"Of what?"

"…I don't know…the fact that…well,uh...see, what had happened was... "

"Well, it's not very often you find her at a loss for words. She must really feel bad." Vanessa smiled. Tails shot her an angry glance, standing to his feet.

"You're even worse! Look at all the things **you** did!"

"Hardly any different."

"Very **much** different!"

"Uh, boshh." The weasel said, surprisingly still conscious after being strangled for this long.

"What do you want now?" Vanessa growled. The quickly fading hooligan raised his hand, pointing to the computer terminal behind her. As she looked, she noticed the small sparks shooting throughout the box, which soon caught fire. It was long before the flames traced along the wires leading to a control terminal. "Oh, this can't be good."

Before they knew it, everyone was showered with sparks, as the many pieces of already unstable electrical equipment began spontaneously combusting and blowing up. Vanessa, in response to the situation, became quickly frantic, realizing that her precious Cross Gate was being destroyed. "Look what you did!" She yelled at Marvel.

"You started it!" the other girl shot back.

"You idiot! Do you realize what you've done!"

"Of course I don't! You should know I don't!"

"I'm going to kill you! You stupid, ignorant…BITCH!"

Vanessa wasted no time leaping into the air and tackling her younger sibling to the ground. Tails watched as they rolled around on the floor, screaming and pulling each others' hair. If he had never witnessed a real cat fight, this was it. However, this was definitely not the time for their quarrel. Running over to the main computer console, he began hacking away at the keyboard. As the two girls behind him continued to fight, he slammed his hands down on the machine and growled. "This is no good! This is just no good!"

"What are you talking about!" Vanessa said, her face being palmed by Marvel.

"I mean this machine! The thing is so unstable, the slightest spark set off a chain reaction in one of the energy conduits!"

"Eneershy whaaat!" Marvel tried her say, Vanessa's fingers pulling away at the sides of her mouth.

"The generator that runs the Gate. They're overloading! I can't figure out how to stop it!"

"And you're supposed…OW!...to be a genius!" Vanessa tried to bar the other girl from pulling her hair. "You're so smart! Fix the bloody thing!"

"I don't know anything about this technology! I don't even know how the basics of this thing works!"

"Figure it oooOOOOUUUWWWWWTTTTT!" Marvel screamed, feeling the other girl's nails dig into her back before the waves of electricity surged through her body.

Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom, Tails continued his futile struggle to stop the Cross Gate from exploding. The weasels on the ground, scared for their lives, finally wised up and decided to head for the hills. "Boss! This place is going down! We're getting the hell outta here!"

"You useless bastards!" Vanessa berated them, but after noticing them huddled together in a horizontal formation and rolling like a log out of the danger zone, she raised a brow. "Hmph. Maybe they weren't stupid."

"Don't turn your back on me!" Marvel said, grabbing her by the arm and slinging her into the air. Tail's hard work and effort into saving all of their lives was then ended prematurely as the white fox smashed into the hard terminal just above him. The binary-filled monitor then went blank, before spazzing out and making a weird sound, showing only a blue screen and a small grey box.

"What the…WHAT DID YOU DO!" Tails was infuriated.

"Oh come off it, mate!" Vanessa yelled, falling from the broken machine and landing on her back. "There's no possible way you can fix it now!"

"Yeah, and whose fault is that!"

"HER!" She pointed at Marvel, who was already charging at her before she speared the other girl in the gut. She retaliated by grabbing her by the hem of her dress and yanking it down, forcing the pink hedgehog to clumsily grab the piece of fabric before she was completely de-skirted. But with her hands busy, her face was unprepared for the roundhouse kick that knocked her senseless, before she stumbled backwards and tripped over a pair of cables.

Tails, who managed to catch a brief glimpse of Marvel's new choice under garments, stood there with his mouth open, and his body suddenly flushing hot. That was until he felt a another hot sensation, coming from the right palm that had just collided with his face. "Now isn't the time to be gawking, boy!"

"I-I wasn't even…URGH! Forget it! We have to get out of here!"

"It's way too late for that now you idiot!" Vanessa screamed.

"What are you talking about!"

"She just trashed the power control module! There's no way this thing is going back to normal! When it finally goes, you're looking at a blast at least 30 Kilometers!"

"Who builds something this dangerous!" Tails found the situation getting worse.

"**You!**"

"Wait, what! You mean **I** built this thing!"

"I said **you** were the **genius**!"

"I didn't know **that's** what you meant!"

"Pay attention you moron!" Vanessa yelled, raising her hand to slap him again. However, the ceiling took its cue to break apart and send a chunk of granite straight into the back of his skull. The boy came falling down to the ground, breaking his fall, or just plain breaking, on part of the console. "That had to hurt."

"What did you do to him!" Marvel returned to the story and grabbing Vanessa by her shoulder straps.

"I didn't do anything this time!"

"What did you do to him before?"

"Let's not get into that…"

"You're lucky we're about to die. Or else I'd kill you right now."

"How does that even make sense? Look at what you're saying. Do you realize how many times the word kill was used today?"

"It doesn't matter!" Marvel said, slinging the fox boy up and leaning him over her shoulder. "How do we get out of here?"

"Can't you just warp us out?"

"I can only do that so many times! And I'm not the **only** one who can do that, or did you forget!"

"Fine! Gosh! But this isn't over between us! Truce?"

"Yeah, whatever. Truce." Marvel frowned.

As the Cross Gate reached critical, Vanessa exhaled loudly before grabbing Marvel by the wrist and closing her eyes. A moment later, the two of them, dragging along an unconscious Tails, disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

Tails opened his eyes to darkness, feeling a searing pain in the back of his head. It took him a moment for his memory to catch up with him. The last time he woke up with a headache, he wasn't too fond of the outcome. And this time was no different. He jumped up, clutching his wrists, and breathing heavily. Luckily, he realized that he wasn't being held captive again. In fact, he found himself lying in a bed. **His** bed. How he got back home, he didn't know. The last thing he remembered was that weird machine going yonkers, and guessed he must have made it out of there alive somehow. Though he could only imagine the carnage it left behind. As he flipped the sheets off of his lower body, he was about to get out of bed when he suddenly felt a fingertip press against his forehead. The delayed, frightening reaction that followed, only seemed to amuse the girl beside him, as she burst into a series of giggles. "It's about time you woke up, Captain McSleepy Pants." Marvel said, smiling.

"Oh…i-it's just you…" Tails calmed down.

"Wow, that's some greeting."

"Sorry…you just surprised me."

"You looked like you were more afraid than surprised."

"Did I?" Tails questioned. Though he wouldn't have admitted it to her, he actually was afraid. How could he not have been, especially when he now knew the truth?

"But enough about that. You must be starving."

"I guess so…" Tails said, rubbing his stomach. "I really haven't eaten a decent meal all day. And it feels like I threw up again. Though I don't remember doing so."

"Don't worry about that. I worked long and hard in the kitchen, and I promise it's edible this time. Come on, dinner's awaitin'!" Marvel said, dancing away from her place beside the bed and down the stairs. Tails got out of bed and soon followed her. The idea of dinner sounded nice. After a long couple of days, he was completely exhausted. There had been too many things happening; things he wished he never had to deal with. But at least for now, things were quiet. But not quiet enough for him to hear a peculiar sound coming from the other side of his hallway. Why it took him so long to hear it, he didn't know. But as Marvel traveled downstairs, Tails found himself heading in the opposite direction, where the sound of running water filled the air. He was sure it wasn't coming from downstairs. And as he came closer to the sliding door, he realized that the sound was coming from the shower.

"What the…"

He slid the door open, feeling the sudden heat erupt from the humid outer room. And as his gaze shifted to the clothes basket on the pedestal next to him, he could see an all-black ensemble, complete with garter and knee socks. And not to mention the frilly black-lace trim all over it. An outfit that looked awfully familiar. Just then, the water stopped, and a second later, the thick glass door on the other side of the small walkway swung open. Tail's eyes met once more with a pair of dark red ones, and the boy found himself paralyzed with both fear and mortification.

The white fox before him, drying her hair with **his** personal towel, stared at him with tempting eyes and grinned. "You don't mind me using this, do you?"

The boy's mouth hung open as she walked past him and down the hallway, dripping water everywhere and stretching her arms into the air. "Not that I care anyway. Oh, and I used all your shampoo. Let's hope whatever's in your fridge isn't as cheap as your tastes in hair byproducts. I'm starving."

As the girl disappeared down the staircase, Tails continued to stand there, processing the situation, before his mouth slowly closed, his teeth clenched, and breaths growing deeper and louder. "WHY IS **SHE** IN MY HOUSE!"


	14. Twofer

**Characters Thus Far: **

Miles 'Tails' Prower – Is taking lessons from Tenchi Masaki.

Marvel St. Vanderburgh – Has new competition

Vanessa St. Vanderburgh – Freeloader extremist.

**A/N: This is a very short chapter. Basically just a chapter to fill in for the next one. But regardless, read and review. Heavy emphasis on the word review. Why? Because it makes me feel good. I bet you'd feel good when people talk about your shit, and you're like "aw thanks man, I'll take that into consideration, because you like this story, and you took time to tell me that, now I feel guilty if I quit, because I feel like I let you down." Rather than, "no reviews? What am I writing for? Man, fuck all yall!" Just Saying. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Tails barreled down the stairs, tripping over the last few and face planting onto the floor. But he didn't have time to worry about the pain, as he immediately jumped back to his feet and jolted into his kitchen, where his eyes were graced with the sight of a long, white tail swinging madly back and forth while the owner stood bent in front of the fridge. She rose a moment later, with a can of juice in one hand, a leftover sandwich in the other, and a slice of provolone cheese hanging from her mouth. As he stared at her, the white fox raised a brow and shrugged, hopping onto the island counter, where her sister just happened to be standing. She flipped her head up, flinging the cheese slice into the air, before it fell perfectly into her mouth.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing!" Tails yelled furiously. Vanessa ignored him, popping open her drink and chugging it down effortlessly.

"**Eating**." She replied, wiping her lips. "That should be apparent."

"I mean what are **you** doing **here**!"

"Hang on a minute…it's rude to talk…with my mouth full…" Vanessa said, holding up a finger all while chewing her salami and mayonnaise induced treat.

"It's also rude to eat someone else's dinner and leave imprints of your butt cheeks on polished wood." Marvel said, glaring up at her sister. But the older sibling simply placed her flexed index finger to the pink girl's forehead and flicked her. Tails watched as the hedgehog's head reeled backwards, before she lost balance and slammed into the shelves behind her.

"Hey, you said we had a truce!" Marvel rubbed the bump on her head.

"I agreed not to **kill** you. I didn't say anything about not inflicting pain on you.

"Point made…"

"Quit getting sidetracked!" Tails interrupted them. "What are you doing here! And why are you eating my food! And wearing my bath towel!"

"This is a bath towel?" Vanessa looked questionably at the small item wrapped around her thin frame. "I thought this was just an extra-large wash rag. No **wonder** I had so much trouble down there."

Tails remained speechless, his ears twitching intensely. Something that happened only when someone managed to rack his nerves. That only seemed to make the older girl happy, which was evident by how a sinister grin spread across her face. Tails knew she was messing with him purposefully, and he wasn't enjoying it for one second. "Get out…"

"Hmm?"

"Get out of my house, **now**!"

"Why don't you come **make** me?" Vanessa said, leaning back and tugging at the end of the towel. "Would you honestly throw a homeless, naked girl out on the streets?"

"I wouldn't put it past him." Marvel murmured.

"You're not helping!" Tails snapped at the pink puff on the floor. "And what do you mean homeless?"

"Quite simple. I don't have a home anymore."

"You have a mansion!"

"That your girlfriend **blew up**."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me."

"The last thing I remember, I was trying to stop that Cross Gate from malfunctioning. But…"

"Yeah, you did a good job of that. Especially the part where you got knocked out by falling debris and, you know, my mansion blew up."

"…Oh…right…" He should have known that was the case. I mean, what else would have happened? He had already expected as much, so why was it such a surprise? Does anything make sense here?

"So, since it was generally your fault, I'm holding you accountable for everything that was destroyed."

"Everything?"

"2000 pairs of designer boots, 500 dresses, 700 blouses, 346 skirts, and 1,200,000G in jewelry. Not to mention a very, very irreplaceable piece of hardware called a **Cross Gate**.

"Why do you even have that much stuff!"

"Funny what you find on the home shopping network."

"What?"

"Regardless, I don't need to reiterate just how important that device was. Both to me, and definitely important to you."

"I tried to stop it!" Tails yelled.

"You didn't try hard enough." Vanessa's tone grew deeper.

"I already told you! I've never seen technology like that before! And all of a sudden it starts going bonkers and you expect me to fix it just like that?"

"You **are** Miles Prower, are you not?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"If you were the person who I thought you were, you'd have no problem fixing such a device."

"I doubt any of that matters now." Marvel jumped in. Vanessa shot her a spiteful glare.

"I wonder **who** could be responsible for that."

"Me too." Marvel narrowed her eyes. Both girls continued to stare at one another, Tails feeling the intense friction between the two of them.

"Well, because of that unfortunate event, your future is looking **much** grimmer." The red-eyed fox turned her attention back to Tails.

"You never explained to me just why the Cross Gate was important in the first place."

"Would you rather me say such things in front of the idiot on the floor here?"

Tails instantly grew tense. He was hoping the girl in front of him wouldn't mention anything regarding Marvel's unknowing vengeance in front of her. But, of course, that was hoping for too much. If she would spend an entire night torturing him for her own sick amusement, what made him think she wouldn't do it again? He would never know what could possibly make her snap. And the more the other girl teased, the more she could potentially let something slip. And judging by the smile on her face, he could tell she was itching for it to happen. As he turned to look at the pink hedgehog with a confused look on her face, a bead of sweat raced down his forehead. "Say what?" Marvel looked at Tails.

"N-nothing. It's nothing." Tails tried to play it off. Though she usually acted clueless at times, he knew Marvel had a very strange sense of awareness and can be quite adept at figuring certain things out. That's when she wanted to anyway.

"Okie-dokie...I guess..." Marvel grinned.

"But I figured you'd have something to say about all this." Tails relaxed again.

"What more is there to tell you?" Marvel placed her hands behind her head.

"So you're not even going to deny anything? No comments, no apologies for not telling me the truth? No anything?"

"Nope." Marvel smiled.

"Oh…I see..." Tails hung his head a little.

"Anyway." Vanessa cut in. "As it stands now, you're as good as dead. Unless of course, you can find another dimensional Cross Gate."

"How would that be possible? You said that thing was invented with technology that doesn't even exist here? How am I supposed to just find another one?"

"Simple. You build one."

"That's unreasonable!"

"You did it once. I'm sure you can do it again." Vanessa said, snapping her finger and instantly warping from the counter to the opposite side of the room. She raised her arms and yawned, afterward rubbing her eyes. "And I'm counting on you to figure it out."

"What?"

"That is, if you **can** figure it out."

"I already told you, I can't do that!"

"Then you're going to die." Vanessa said, walking back towards the stairs. "Not that I care anyway."

"Obviously not!"

"I can't say it any other way. And I suggest you start getting to work."

"What am I now, your slave?" Tails asked angrily.

"I'd consider you more of an indentured servant. I expect you to pay me back for everything that was destroyed. And I'm not leaving until you do."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"See for yourself.

"I don't have any extra room for you to stay!"

"That's perfectly understandable. With a dump this small it's a wonder you have room for anything."

"My house is not a dump!"

"That's right, it's more like a junkyard. Full of useless tools and the smell of oil and metal. Definitely not the kind of place I'd want to stay. So, you can make use of that atmosphere down here. I'll take the less offensive venue of this trash heap."

"Wait, a minute, you're not-"

"See ya." Vanessa said, hopping up the stairs. Tails, dashing after her, made it to the top step, before he saw the other girl playfully waving at him from behind his bedroom door. She blew him a kiss, and just before he lunged at her, slammed the door dead in his face. The twin tailed fox smacked the hardwood door, before he rolled backwards and lay out on the still wet floor.

As he stared at the ceiling, his mind racing, his vision suddenly turned pink, as Marvel stood over him, looking slightly confused. "You ok?"

"No. I'm not." Tails said through clenched teeth. "For someone who was locked in a grudge match with her earlier, you seem to be really passive all of a sudden."

"Well, it's not like she's doing anything bad right now…Besides, what do we have to fight about?"

"I can think of a few things." Tails said, referring to how the white fox had been getting the better of him all night, and Marvel has been no help as of late to back him up like before.

"Marvelous!" Vanessa yelled, cracking open the door just a little. "Let's go."

"Huh?"

"It's time to go to sleep."

"But…"

"You **heard** me. Don't worry about that idiot, he can sleep on the couch."

"Are you ok with that?" Marvel asked Tails, who simply gave her a very unpleasant look.

"Come on, I'll help you get undressed."

"Yay! Ok!" Marvel clapped, bouncing over to the door. Tails, not believing that he had just been deserted by his girlfriend for her sister, jumped to his feet again and sprang for the door. Just fast enough to see Marvel's foot kick it shut, and once again bashing his face. On the floor, once again, for about the seventh time in 18 hours, Tails was just about at his nerve's end. But no matter how angry he became, it was clear he had lost this battle. And his one hope for reinforcement ditched him to join the enemy. Now both girls were reaping the spoils of their victory over the single male species; His bed. For now, it seemed he only had one friend he could trust. And as he sauntered back down the stairs and into the living room, he sank onto the orange sofa, burying his face into the cushions and exhaling loudly. Marvel was more than a handful when she decided to move in with him. But with another girl joining the group, just how long would his sanity hold? On the bright side, at least he's got two live in maids.


	15. Mother May I

Characters Thus Far:

Miles 'Tails' Prower (15) – Victim of yet another misunderstanding.

Marvelous St. Vanderburgh (14) – Has an interesting taste in music.

Vanessa St. Vanderburgh (19) – Is not a morning person.

A/N: So, with this chapter we add yet another character to the fray. Also, I've been working on visual representations of the characters. Maybe, expect some artwork to appear sometime in the next few chapters; which will be available on my deviantART page. So, go ahead and enjoy the chapter. And you know what to do afterward. Don't make me come find you.

* * *

It was no wonder he awoke to a sharp pain in his back that morning. That's what one should expect when they are forced to sleep on a sofa that was never really meant for a person to sleep. And for the twin tailed fox, it was nothing short of cruel and unusual punishment. Not only did he lose his favorite bath towel, his bedroom, and even his girlfriend to the new freeloader, but he was beginning to lose his patience as well. Especially since Vanessa decided it was necessary to turn the air conditioner all the way to 60 degrees. And with the controls in his room, there was no way he could go and change it back. Not to mention he was without a pillow or blanket. He must have shifted at least 30 times on that sofa, trying to blanket himself with his two extremities. A lot of good that did. By the late morning, he found himself burrowing into the cushions until he had become one with the sofa itself. That only lasted for another hour or so before he found himself slowly slipping out, and eventually pouring onto the floor. Looking at the ceiling, his bloodshot eyes traced around the living room. He lay on the back of his head, his back pointing straight up against the edge of the couch cushions, and his feet dangling in the air. He wouldn't mind staying like that for the rest of the morning, the sun long since rising. He didn't know what time it was, but at that point, he didn't really care anymore anyway. He was just happy his eyes were finally closing again. But sleep is a luxury Tails has come to realize he'll never have. As soon as his eyelids shut, the loud ringing of his doorbell shot them back open. "I knew it was too good to be true…" The boy sleepily murmured.

Allowing his legs to hang over his head, Tails rolled backward until he was sitting on the carpet, his hands in his lap, but still no effort in making it to the door. He yawned, twice, before finally standing to his feet and sauntering over to the front door. As he opened it, his half open eyes quickly became full, as he recognized the visitor that had been so gracious as to ensure he might die from sleep deprivation. The older fox at the door, dressed in a red and yellow flowery summer dress and light blue capris, put on a large smile as she stared at the shocked expression of the boy in front of her. "Well, somebody hasn't been seeing much of the Sandman has he?"

"M-M-MOM! What on Mobius are you doing here!" Tails said, rubbing his eyes madly. Rosemary Prower, laughing to herself at her son's surprised expression, placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"That's the kind of greeting I get from my own son, whom I haven't even seen in months?"

"S-sorry, mom…" Tails apologized, scratching his head. "I just didn't expect to see you."

"I know, I know. And I'm sorry for dropping by unexpected. But believe me, this is anything but a social call."

"What do you mean?" Tails asked her. Rosemary wasn't the kind of woman who chit-chats with people without good enough reason. Unless you just happened to be one of the people in her weekly mahjong group. But as her son, an unexpected visit usually never meant anything good. For him at least.

"How about we discuss it over tea?"

* * *

Rosemary turned off the burner to the stove, taking the blue teapot and pouring two steaming glasses of green tea for her and her offspring. Setting the cup in front of him, she took her seat across from him at the dining room table. She took a couple sips, not really making any direct eye contact with him, which only seemed to make him even more paranoid. Eventually, she set her cup down and gave a long sigh. "So…how have you been?"

"Ok, I guess." Tails said, staring down at the table.

"Is that teenager talk for not doing well?"

"No, mom. Really, I'm ok." Tails said, having no wish to tell his own mother the current situation he had gotten himself mixed up in.

"Are you having girl troubles?" Rosemary grinned.

"What! N-no!" The boy immediately dismissed.

"You must think I've been living under a rock my whole life, Miles. A mother **always** knows."

"That doesn't mean I'm having girl troubles."

"The look on your face pretty much explains it all."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Tails looked skeptical.

"Your father had the same look on his face a long time ago."

"Yeah…how **is** dad anyway?" Tails took a sip of tea.

"To be honest, he's worrying a lot about you."

"Why would he be doing that? There's nothing wrong with me, nor am I in any sort of trouble or anything." He told her, even though he knew differently.

"No, that's not the problem. He's more worried about your personal life."

"Mom." Tails rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not a little kid. And I'm not worrying about **that** anymore."

"You could have fooled me." Rosemary closed her eyes while drinking more of her tea. "The way you talk, the way you behave towards other females…it's all changed Miles. Whether or not you want to believe it, you never behaved the same after **that** girl."

"Can we just leave it alone?" Tails found himself getting worked up. If anything, what his mother had just said had solidified what another fox had told him the other day. Granted, it wasn't really his fault for what happened 5 years ago. That certain incident with _**her**_. After that, he never really behaved the same around other women.

"Listen, Miles. Your father and I are worried. We know it's been hard for you after the two of you broke up, but you have to believe me when I say this. You can't keep holding on to **that** girl forever."

"I know, mom…"

"And what your father is worried about is that you won't move on with your life."

"So you came here to talk to me about that?"

"I wanted to confirm something with you."

"Like?"

"You're approaching that age. Have you ever started thinking about marriage?"

Tails' ears spiked upwards as a complete look of embarrassment and surprise exploded on his face. "Mom! What are you even- NO! Of course not!"

"I was just asking a question." Rosemary took another sip of tea.

"But why ask me** that** question? I'm not old enough to think about things like that."

"Miles, how old do you think your father and I were when we got married?"

"I don't know, late 30s?"

"Try 17."

"What? But how did you guys-?"

"We weren't as innocent as you think. Your father and I actually had some very interesting adventures. There was this one time we-"

"Mooooooom!" Tails palmed his face. "If this is leading to something involving you and dad in very sketchy positions, I rather not hear about my parents doing that."

"Point made. You're just a little young for that one."

"I don't want to be old enough to hear that either."

"Regardless, you see what I'm getting at. You're never too young for a serious relationship. I mean, look at Sonic and the Princess. Those two are practically engaged already, but they won't go any farther than that. And believe me, Max is pushing for it right about now."

"But Sonic and Sally are different. They've known each other for years. It's only natural they'd have a relationship like that."

"And so it's only natural for you to have the same opportunity, right?"

"Mom, listen…I understand what you're trying to say. But I'm just not like them…nor am I like you and dad." Tails shrank a little in his chair. "Besides, if _**she**_ dumped me, then I'm not really relationship material, am I?"

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge you."

"That's because you're my mom." Tails forced a smile.

"No. It's because I know for a fact that's not true."

"How?"

"You know Miss Trudy can't keep her big mouth shut, don't you?"

"…Ugh…" The boy's face contorted. He just knew somehow meeting that woman at the shopping market would come back to bite him later. Especially since she and Rosemary were such good friends. Or rather, they were great gossip buddies. And apparently word got out about his newly acquired eccentric other. "So that's what you're here for…"

"Umhm." Rosemary leaned her chin into her palms. "Sooooooooooo, who is she?"

"Who is who? Tails averted his gaze from his mother's awkward stare.

"Don't play dumb with me. She saw you with a girl. And from what I heard around town, you two are pretty close."

"Around town? Just how many people do you know!"

"Women have networks, Miles. We know everything."

"**Apparently**…"

"So, is she you're girlfriend?"

"Mom!" Tails raised his voice. "Come on, do we really have to get into this?"

"You're acting like a little girl! You don't even want to talk about it with your own mother?"

"It's just awkward talking about it…"

"Are you ashamed of this girl or something?" Rosemary said, a startled look appearing on her face. She stared at something on the other side of the room, which the other fox didn't seem to notice.

"No…It's just…it's not what you think."

"Apparently." Rosemary murmured, staring behind him. Tails crossed his arms and sighed.

"It isn't. I can't really explain the situation right now…but trust me, it's complicated."

"Are you living with this girl?"

"What! No, I'm not living with anyone!"

"I realize you're living on your own, Miles. I don't have any objections to the way you decide to live your life. You don't have to lie to me."

"Mom, there's nothing going on."

"You sure? because I could have sworn I heard something upstairs. Unless you just happen to have really big termites or something."

"W-what? You must be hearing things."

"Are you calling me old?" Rosemary narrowed her eyes.

"Of course not, mom!"

"So if I'm supposedly old and hearing things, I must be seeing things too?"

"What?"

"Because unless you have a live-in maid who prances about your house and raids your fridge, I might be senile."

Tails froze instantly, now realizing why his mother had been so observant of the background the past few minutes. She continued to sit there, staring into his kitchen, with a weird smirk on her face. Turning his head slowly, Tails caught the sight of tall, pink ponytail bouncing from side to side over the opened refrigerator door. A moment later, the pink puff rose up, a plethora of snack foods clutched in her arms, and a pair of small headphones in her ears. It didn't matter to her that her eyes weren't even open, but as she kicked the fridge door shut, she began hopping up and down. Tails didn't exactly know what to think, glancing back at his mother, who simply raised a brow, and continued to stare at the oblivious girl in the kitchen. Soon, she stopped her jumping bean imitation, and stepped from left to right, moving forward slightly, and bobbing her head from side to side. It was then that he could hear her mumbling something to herself. "Work hard, play hard, work hard, play hard."

Looking back at his mother, Tails forced a crooked grin as he held up his hands. "I…uh…can explain that…"

"Can you now?" Rosemary smiled.

"The bigger the bill, the harder you ball. Well I'm throwin' mine, cause my money long." Marvel started singing out loud, twirling about and careful not to drop her favorite creamed pastries. "The quicker you're here, the faster you go. That's why, where I come from the only thing we know is…"

During a flurry of dizzying spins, Marvel finally cracked her eyes only a small bit, enough to catch a quick glimpse of the older woman sitting at the table each time she turned. As she slowed, her arms dropped, scattering food all over the floor. When she came to a complete stop, her eyes lay transfixed on Rosemary, who sat upright and clapped her hands. "That was some really good dancing."

The pink hedgehog didn't utter a single word in response, but looked at Tails, who was too busy face palming to really notice. Shyly, Marvel scratched her head and bit down on her tongue. "It's one of my best traits."

"So I see." She looked back at her son. "So, no one, huh?"

* * *

Rosemary poured another cup of tea and took a bite of her warm pastry, staring across the table at her son, and the girl sitting next to him, who was quite antsy as she sat in her chair. Wiping her lips with a napkin, she locked her fingers together and turned her attention toward the girl. "So, Marvelous…it's a pleasure to finally meet Miles' illustrious girlfriend."

"And it's a pleasure to make the acquaintance of my boyfriend's esteemed mother!" Marvel said, giving a big smile. This earned her a disheartening look from Tails.

"You throw that word out so casually now…"

"Well, I would expect her to." Rosemary chortled. "I can tell she's happy. And when your father hears about this, I can bet he's going to flip off the walls. **You** on the other hand…"

"If you know what I had to deal with on a daily basis, you wouldn't be happy either."

"So I burned dinner. Why get so nit-picky over it?" Marvel frowned.

"You've burned **every** dinner so far." Tails growled.

"And take-out food here is amazing. Get over it."

Rosemary chuckled a bit, taking another sip of tea. "Your accent seems so unfamiliar to me, Marvelous. Are you from the far continents?"

"Well, actually, I'm from a different dimen-"

"She's from Mercia!" Tails yelled, cutting the girl off. "Yeah, heh heh, she's from…that place. Called Mercia. You know, where Amy's from…"

"Oh really?" the older fox noticed the sudden, strange reaction from her son. She could tell she was making him nervous, and Marvel didn't seem like she wanted to become a bother to him. Probably a direct result of her sudden appearance into their lives. But it wasn't her first time around the block. She was in the same position when she and Amadeus first met. She wouldn't want to make herself seem estranged in front of **his** parents, so Marvel most likely felt the same way. Either that, or she was totally embarrassed at the fact that she was caught dancing around like she was. "Well, I think I've occupied you kids' time long enough."

"Huh?" Tails raised his head a little. "You're leaving?"

"You think I couldn't sense that vibe from you? Remember, I was once a teenager myself."

"Yeah…I'm sorry mom."

"No need to apologize." Rosemary said, getting up from her seat and heading towards the door. Tails and Marvel followed. "But before that." She said, pulling Marvel aside. She took her a few feet away from Tails and leaned in her ear. "This is a secret, between us girls ok?"

"Sure." Marvel smiled.

"I know he can be a pain sometimes, but don't let his attitude force you away. I know how he is; his father was the exact same way. He just needs some time. And when he finally decides to forgive himself, you'll notice the difference."

"Forgive himself?"

"Maybe he'll tell you about it when he's ready. For now, just stay by his side, ok? And take good care of him."

"I kind of figured you'd be telling **him** that."

"That boy? Please…he can barely keep himself in check. He needs someone to look after him right now. And I think you're the perfect girl for the job."

"Wow…thanks." Marvel's eyes sparkled. "That means a lot to me."

"Well, just remember, I'm counting on you." Rosemary winked. Marvel snapped her feet together and gave her a salute.

"Aye Aye, Ma'am! Leave it to me!"

Rosemary laughed, then turned back to her son. "And as for you."

"What were you guys talking about?"

"That's between us girls!" Marvel snapped at him.

"Right…" Tails sighed.

"Listen to me, Miles." Rosemary embraced him.

"Yeah?"

"Don't let your fears ruin this relationship."

"Mom, I'm not-"

"I said listen to me." She turned on her strict voice. "It might be hard to, but Marvelous is a good girl. Trust her, and try to let go of the past already. Or you might just end up ruining your relationship… like your father once did."

"You and dad broke up before?"

"Not quite…not with me, anyway."

"You weren't dad's first girlfriend?"

"There are things your father has never talked about. And I fear that some of the decisions we made before your birth, may just come back to haunt us. **You** most of all."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about it now. Just enjoy her company."

With a final hug, Rosemary watched as the boy opened the door for her and she began her exit. But halfway through, she stopped, snapping a finger, and turning around sharply. "Oh! I almost forgot!"

"What?" Tails looked surprised.

"I won these tickets in a bingo tournament a week ago. It's a free trip on the Coral Oriental luxury cruise line."

"Say what!" Marvel jumped at the sound of it.

"Unfortunately, your father and I can't go. We have a prior engagement. So I'm giving this to you two. Think of it as a gift to celebrate your new relationship."

"Wow! Thanks mom!" Marvel cried, wrapping Rosemary in a big hug. The older fox laughed, hugging her back, and Tails watched as his mother seemingly turned 14 again as she and Marvel hopped up and down making giddy girl noises.

"You called me mom!"

"Of course! You're going to be my mom eventually anyway."

"Is that so?"

"Don't encourage her." Tails grit his teeth. "But thanks mom. Really."

"No problem. By the way, the ship leaves from the New Mobotropolis Port tomorrow morning, so you two better get packing."

"YAAAY!" Marvel said, spinning around on her heels with her arms raised in the air. "This is going to be the best honeymoon EVAR!

"This isn't a honeymoon!" Tails yelled at her.

"Doesn't MATTER! We're going on a cruise! SWEEEEEEEE-"

"**DAMMIT!** **WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!**" the three bystanders downstairs heard an angry roar erupt from upstairs. Marvel cringed, and Tails stood there with a blank stare, looking at his mother, who was narrowing her eyes at him.

"Who was **that**?"

"That was…uh…" Tails looked away."

"**I** didn't hear anything." Marvel did the same, whistling.

Rosemary stood there for a moment with a peculiar look, before she simply turned around and began walking away. "Allllllllright, if you kids are into **that** sort of thing, don't let me bother you."

"Wait, that's not even the case! You're mistaking this for-Hold on, what are you even talking about, mom? Don't tell me you and dad…!"

"Have fun." She waved, not looking back.

Tails stood there with his mouth wide open, realizing that his innocent mother may not have been so innocent after all. Marvel, taking the tickets from his hand, stood beside him with a tired look, and smiled. "So, your mom's a-"

"**Don't**. Even. Go there."


	16. Sink or Swim

**Characters Thus Far:**

Miles 'Tails' Prower – Has never really had a vacation.

Marvelous St. Vanderburgh – Apparently can't withstand water impact.

Sonic the Hedgehog – Does whatever he's told.

Sally Acorn – Doesn't like losing. **Anything**.

**A/N: Probably scared a few people. It took longer than usual, most of that is the fault of a certain game called Borderlands 2. DON'T JUDGE ME. But regardless, here's the next chapter. So enjoy, and let's not forget to review! Your maker compels you to. Also, the chapter title has two possible meanings. I wonder who figured it out.  
**

* * *

"Hurry up, slow-wy McSlowerson!" The pink hedgehog in the black summer dress yelled. Her object of insult lay with the twin-tailed fox that trailed behind her, lugging 4, heavy suitcases. She tapped her foot repeatedly, something he had often seen too much from his blue partner. "Sometime this year, please."

"Why do I have to carry everything?" Tails said annoyed.

"Because you're the boyfriend. That's your **job**."

"None of this is even mine!"

"I can tell." Marvel rolled her eyes, looking the boy over. "You're not wearing the clothes I bought you anymore."

"I prefer my body to breathe."

"Enough of your opinions." Marvel raised a fist in in the air. "Move minion!"

"Min-what?" Tails struggled, nearly dropping one of the girl's expensive looking luggage. Luckily for him, he wouldn't have to carry it for much longer. It was one of those times he wished he had a mode of transportation other than things that fly. The long trek to the city port was hard enough, but add 150lbs of who knows what will surely make it even harder. As he set the bags down on the wooden boardwalk, he bent over, his hands on his knees, and heaving a heavy sigh. "Just what do you** have** in those things?"

"Any and everything a girl needs for a trip." Marvel said, adjusting her straw bonnet.

"Which is?"

"Any and everything."

"You packed **everything**?" Tails said in disbelief.

"You can never be too prepared."

"This cruise is only for two days!"

"And imagine your surprise when we strike an iceberg and get stranded on a desert island. I'm not going to be the one short on clothing, now am I? Oh, but of course you wouldn't mind that…you don't **wear** any."

"Ok. I get it already." Tails frowned.

"And apparently, you won't be the only one." Marvel crossed her arms. Tails stood there for a moment, before he turned around to see what the younger girl had been talking about. At the entrance of the pier, her saw two familiar figures approaching them.

"Sonic? Sally?" Tails said, straightening his posture once again. "What are you guys doing here?"

"The same reason as you, I would guess." Sonic said, lazily dropping the two suitcases he towed onto the wooden planks; An act that forced an elbow of the princess behind him into his side.

"I told you to stop doing that." Sally narrowed her eyes. The blue hedgehog simply shrugged, and let out an inaudible growl. "Tails, it's nice to see you again."

"Y-yeah. Likewise." The fox said, scratching his head. "I take it you guys are here for the cruise then?"

"Yes. My mother thought it would be nice to get out of the palace for a while. So, she hooked us up with tickets to a luxury cruise."

"Mothers..." Tails sighed, recounting how he had gotten his and Marvel's tickets from his own mother.

"And I see you've brought Marvelous with you as well."

"Yeah, she's-"

"Supreme overlord of the seven seas! At your service!" Marvel took off her hat and bowed.

"Supreme overlord? What are you talking about now?"

"Quiet minion! We must move onward, for our trusty water-stallion awaits!" The pink hedgehog yelled, her fist once again in the air, and walking proudly towards the ship that sat at the end of the boardwalk.

"She's…uh, enthusiastic today." Sally snickered.

"Hardly the word I'd use…" Tails palmed his face.

As they followed the younger girl up long steps leading to the ship, baggage once again in tow, they all found themselves on the deck of the extremely luxurious cruise liner Coral Oriental. The name painted on the side and littered with LED lights clearly gave that away. Why anyone would use those during the daytime was a mystery. But the kind of people that littered the deck looked like the kind only the rich would mingle with. Including the snappy Koala in the fancy white suit and carrying a wine glass like he owned the pla- oh, right, that's the captain. As he approached them, doing something of a shuffle, Sonic's expression soured, and Tails didn't exactly see a normal outcome from their immediate meeting with the captain of the ship. "Welcome!" The captain said, in a heavy Latin accent. "Truly, welcome to the Coral Oriental. The finest ship on the seas! The cruise of a lifetime! I am your captain, Rodrigo! And this…" He moved aside as a small circular robot rolled up. "This is my assistant, Julio!"

"Hola." The robot said, opening a panel and extending an arm with a neatly folded white towel. "Can I interest you in a complementary towel?"

Marvel's eyes instantly lit up, and she spread a wide grin. However, a second later, she turned to face Tails, with a semi-annoyed look. "I don't know what he just said, but he's got free towels!"

"Go ahead, it's yours." Rodrigo motioned for her to take it. Marvel didn't waste any time, nor the energy needed to turn her upper body back around, before she simply reached back and snatched it from the robot, laughing maniacally as she celebrated her triumph of cotton acquisition. As she danced around the deck, Sally shook her head, and figured it was as good a time as any to start her vacation.

"Why don't you boys go secure the rooms. I think we'll go visit the pool."

"Already?" Sonic looked at her.

"Just go." Sally flicked his ear. "Catch up with us when you guys are done."

As the princess and the maid traversed the ship, being led around by the captain and his shiny assistant, Sonic and Tails were stuck with doing more menial chores. As both boys looked to one another, they let out a long sigh, and march on to their cabins. "Girls." Sonic grumbled.

"Tell me about it…" Tails growled.

"I can't say I have it as good as you."

"Good? You can't call living with Marvel good."

"Why not? You're living with a girl. A **girl**, man! No parents, no one in your face to ruin hot moments. You're one of the lucky ones."

"Don't you have a place of your own though?"

"That I somehow don't stay in often…" Sonic thought about it. "Either way, I still consider you lucky."

"You'd think twice before saying that if you knew how she is."

"Oh, come on! Marvel's one of the coolest-"

"No way past?"

"I'm an adult now."

"Sure."

"She's one of the coolest girls I've ever met. What could she possibly do that makes you feel that way?"

* * *

"Marvel! What are you doing!" Tails yelled from the bottom of the 25-foot diving board above the pool. The pink hedgehog in the 2-piece black bathing suit looked down at him and waved.

"Jumping into the pool, silly bear!"

"You know what happened the last time you jumped into a body of water!"

"That was totally a fluke. And I was sick." The girl said, approaching the jump position. Sonic could see the crazed look on his friend's face, and slapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Chill dude. She's jumped out of windows higher than that."

"She did what!" Tails glared at him. "When did this happen?"

"I take it she didn't mention that to you yet…"

"Girominommo-or something!" Marvel yelled, bouncing from the board and diving headfirst. Tails watched in horror as the girl plummeted, afraid that she'd blow her face apart on the surface like she did during their prior engagement with H2O. However, she performed a series of flips, before straightening out her body and slicing through the water like a knife and barely making a splash. At least with the water. The bystanders sitting in their beach chairs and walking the pool perimeter on the other hand loved her performance, and began applauding. Halfway expecting an incident of some sort, Tails stopped cringing, and for the moment, everything was fine. As Sally sat up from her chair, sunglasses-on-face, she clapped, and smiled at Tails.

"Wow, she's pretty athletic."

"Well…yeah…" Tails said.

"I told you man, she's cool." Sonic grinned.

"Aaaaaaaaaaand she hasn't come up yet." Sally walked to the pool's edge and looked down.

"What!" Tails panicked, running to the water and gazing down upon the pink and black wavy silhouette at the bottom of the pool.

"And she apparently doesn't float either." Sonic's trademark grin quickly disappeared. removing his palm from his face once again, Tails prepared to dive into the pool after her.

* * *

Tails sat by the water's edge, watching as Sonic and Sally played pool ball together. He would have joined in the game, but unfortunately, his partner lay knocked out in the chair behind him. He somewhat figured after her showy display of athleticism she'd be able to handle landing in the water. That was found out to be false. Just then, he heard a series of moans from the awakening girl, and turned to face her. "You're finally awake."

"Wha…?" Marvel said tiredly.

"I think it's best if you stay out of the water for now."

"Why? That's no fun." Marvel pouted.

"It's better than having you hurt yourself again."

"That didn't hurt at all." Marvel stared at him.

"You knocked yourself out." Tails reminded her. "For a **second** time."

"That means absolutely nothing."

"Hey!" Both teenagers turned to face the blue hedgehog that had just yelled. "She's awake now! You obviously have a partner again, let's play some pool ball!"

"Sonic…" Tails narrowed his eyes. "She **just** recovered, I don't think she's ready to be running around and-"

"Let's **do** it!" Marvel screamed, scaring the boy in front of her.

"What? You mean you're ok with that?"

"Don't you know a challenge when you hear one? He just demanded satisfaction!" Marvel said, hopping up from the chair and leaping into the water. Tails reached out to grab her after she failed to realize her mistake for a third time, but after she made a painfully audible entrance; she splashed back to the surface, and waved for him to join her. "And he shall have it! Minion! Let's go!"

"Why are you calling me minion?" Tails questioned the girl. However, her expression of anticipation and anger forced him to forsake an answer and join her in the cold water. Sonic rubbed his palms together, already feeling like he could win against his old pal. But Tails wasn't fully into the idea of competition at the current moment. Sally took her place behind Sonic and set up to serve.

"Ready? Go!" She smacked the ball over the net. Tails jumped in to hit it back, and met with an immediate counter-attack by Sonic. How he managed to move fast enough in water is amazing. But he wasn't the only one. Marvel was splashing around the pool in the same fashion, and with almost the same speed. Though he didn't notice it right away, he could tell she was into it, and so was Sonic. The two of them seemed like this was more than just a game, as neither he nor Sally were reaching any of the passes. He had to cut her off just to make a hit, which after the first 5 times, was beginning to get tiring. The constant ball romping continued for a long time, with no one scoring a point against the other team. Just then, Sonic rushed ahead, jumping into the air and spiking the ball over the net. Tails just barely managed to hit it, unfortunately, with his face. The ball shot over to the side, nearing the end of the pool. Marvel's expression grew fierce, as she pointed her finger at the nearest bystander in the ball's path of travel. Which, unfortunately for **him, **happened to be the captain's assistant.

"Julio!" the pink hedgehog screamed. The tiny robot, which had been serving drinks to some of the guests, spun around just in time to get planked in the area of its body frame that could have been its face, and causing it to scatter the strawberry martinis over the guests. Not caring for their well-being, Marvel leaped forward as best she could, swatting the ball back into the air and over the net, where an angry princess splashed her fists into the water while her blue partner laughed at the bystander's misfortune. Coming back out of the water, Marvel waved at the robot, which still lay on its back. "Thanks Julie!"

"Ugh!" Sally grunted, slapping Sonic on the arm. "What was that?"

"A bad place to be sitting if you ask me." He continued to chortle.

"Not **that**! Why didn't you catch the **ball**!"

"Yo, chill Sal." He held his hands up in defense.

"I'm already chill enough in this bikini! We are not going to lose this match!"

"Sal, seriously, calm down. It's just a game…this **is** just a game, right?"

"You didn't think it was a game when you and that girl were batting shots the whole time!"

"She's good? What can I say? I like a little competition."

"Whatever!" Sally said, tossing the ball to Tails. "Your serve!"

"Uh, right." Tails said, taking his position. He looked at Marvel, who was ready to pounce at anything Sonic could possibly throw at her. Yet somehow, his body shivered at the sight of the devious grin on the girl's face; one that he had seen before just prior to something unpleasant happening. What she could be thinking, he didn't know, but it **never** ended well. As he tossed the ball in the air, he drew his arm back, and thrust it forward. "Here it comes!"

The ball hurled straight over the net, right into the balled fists of Sonic, who spiked it right back at him. He smacked it into the air, where Marvel jumped and sent it back at him. Sonic repeated his same tactic, this time striking it at Marvel. As she landed in front of him, Tails just narrowly made eye contact with her, enough to see the 'don't hate me for this' look in her eyes. "Defensive Shield!" Marvel yelled, placing her hands on his shoulders and flipping her body into the air.

"Marvel! What-!"

"Sacrifices must be maid!" She twisted behind him, pushing him into the path of the ball that once again connected with his face. It bounced into the air, enough for her to power herself off of his shoulders and into the air after it, which threw him forcefully into the water, and allowed her to set up a devastating spike at the blue hero.

"Yikes!" Sonic cried, watching as the beach ball rocketed right at him. Now all reason would compel the boy to just hit the ball back. The princess behind him for sure would have thought that would have been his first response. It wasn't. Sonic curled himself into ball, initiating a short spin dash, which how the ball didn't explode on contact with his body was possibly the biggest mystery of the day. But Sally was probably going to wish it had, as the boy's maneuver ricocheted the full force of the ball straight in her direction, blasting her in the face, and tossing her backwards into the water.

"Woo hoo! Cooked and served!" Marvel cheered, landing back in the pool. As sonic returned to normal state, he looked back at Sally, who lay on the water's surface, dazed and confused. Possibly more angry than anything. Tails, coming back to his own senses, and his near drowning, looked to Sonic.

"Is she ok?"

Sonic sloshed over to the princess and poked her twice on the cheek, watching as she attempted to swat his finger multiple times. "She'll live."

That was good. Or bad. Definitely bad for Sonic. He was sure to get an earful later. But turning his attention to his own girlfriend, Tails growled, gritting his teeth. "What was that?"

"Uh, **winning**." Marvel smiled.

"Haven't you incapacitated enough of my friends?"

"I think the more important question is, who **haven't** I incapacitated yet?"

"That's not the point here at all!"

"Squirrely-girl got the point."

"You knocked her out!"

"Highlight of my day."

"Argh!" Tails clutched his head. "Is it too much to ask you not make a scene just for one day? Just one day! And I haven't forgotten about earlier either! Jumping out of windows? Just what haven't you done that I don't know about?"

"Eaten." Marvel said, poking herself in the stomach.

Tails, realizing his next words would probably fall on deaf ears again, dropped his head and sighed. "Of course…"

* * *

Tails placed his fork on the empty plate in front of him, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes. After the game, Sonic had taken Sally back to their room. He hadn't seen him since, which was probably not a positive sign. But they were definitely missing out. Surprisingly, the food on the ship wasn't all that bad. The best meal he'd have had in months. Looking at the girl across from him, who was more interested in flagging down a waitress for more dinner rolls, he exhaled deeply, placing his chin on the table and moaning. "Well, this has been an interesting day."

"Before or after the Bingo tournament?" Marvel said, reaching out to grab the hem of a passing waitress. "More rolls!"

"Uh, definitely before the tournament. Considering that you flipped out and kicked a table into a group of senior citizens."

"That old lady was cheating!" Marvel slammed her fists on the table. "She was harboring extra chips and you know it!"

"I didn't see anything out of the ordinary." Tails glared at her.

"You rarely see anything at all." Marvel pouted, obviously making a jab at him. But her own point was proven when the boy didn't seem to notice that she was.

"Not to mention you probably scared most of the staff after the shuffle board incident."

"That was not my fault." Marvel turned away from him.

"Apparently." Tails mumbled.

"Are you done talking about **me** now?"

"What?"

"Because I'm more interested in talking about **you**."

"Me? Why?"

"Maybe because we've never actually had a decent conversation with each other?"

"Oh…" Tails thought. She was actually right, though. Most of their time consisted of him ranting to her about something she may or may not have done. Whether it was to him, his property, or one of his friends. Had they actually had an intelligent discussion, or what would have passed for one, was questionable. "Well, like I said…it's been a really interesting day."

"You're saying it like it's over already?"

"Isn't it?" He pointed out the window to the dark night sky.

"Far from it." Marvel deviously smiled. She reached over the table and grabbed his wrist, dragging him up from the chair and pulling him with her as she marched off towards their cabin. The poor waitress standing there with the fresh rolls would probably quit her job later.

"M-Marvel, what are you doing!" Tails continued to be led by the amorous pink hedgehog. When they reached their cabin, she kicked open the door and threw him inside, where he stumbled across the floor until he tripped and landed on the bed. Looking back, he saw Marvel quickly locking and bolting the door, then proceeding to stare back at him with a seriously creepy expression. "N-No! Hey, wait a minute!"

"Come here you!" she said, jumping across the room and attempting to tackle him.

"AHHHHH!" Tails screamed, possibly his highest pitched wail ever, as he frantically rolled to the side, causing Marvel to face plant into the mattress. There's been a lot of faces harmed in the making of this chapter. Trying to crawl away, he felt a strong hand latch around one of his tails, exciting a quick cry, before he was pulled back and thoroughly proceeded to be mounted by the rabid pink hedgehog. She tried to lean in and kiss him, but found it hard because of the palm that pushed back on her forehead. Her arms continued reaching to grab him, which quickly turned into her desperately trying to claw at him. "Marvel! Stop it! What's wrong with you!"

"Meh!" She continued to try and force herself on him. "Stop being so difficult and just come here!"

"No!" Tails tried to push her back. Of course, he knew Marvel was stronger than him, and each second that passed, he thought he wouldn't be able to hold her off for much longer. So he did what any fifteen year-old in his position would do. "Ugh!"

Sliding out from under her, Tails dropped off the end of the bed and landed on the floor. His action immediately caused Marvel to thrust forward and fall off the other end, landing with a loud crash on the wooden floor. Scrambling to his feet, Tails backed himself against the nearest wall, breathing heavily. He watched as Marvel slowly crept back to her feet and using her hands to undo the buttons on her blouse. "What are you doing!" Tails yelled.

"Something that boyfriends and girlfriends do."

Realizing that she was undressing herself, and after memories of their first encounter resurfaced, Tails found himself inching towards the bathroom. "I-uh, I gotta, you know…I gotta..."

"I may have messed up the last time. But I made sure to take **extra** allergy medicine this time around." Marvel teased him, removing her top and throwing it across the room. And act Tails only partially saw due to his dashing into the bathroom and slamming the door shut. "Don't hide in there forever!"

"Y-yeah, I uh…I'll be out…in a minute…" Tails shakily said. Well, this was definitely a position he didn't see himself in anytime soon. But with Marvel, he should have **at least** half expected it. Her sudden change in attitude caught him terribly off guard, and honestly, he wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't like he hadn't been here before. Though the last time it happened, his reaction to the situation caused more damage than he could have ever imagined. Cracking open the door, Tails managed to see the pink girl sitting on the bed with her back to him, now dressed in a black, almost see-thru nightgown, swinging her head from side to side and humming. She apparently moved a lot faster than he thought, due to the numerous clothes that had been scattered across the room from her seemingly torn apart luggage. Closing the door and leaning his back against it, he found himself in an inescapable situation. There was no telling what the younger girl was going to do to him when he came out. He had a pretty good idea what though. Could that have been what Marvel was getting at? The possibility that something could have happened when they were at the carnival was one sign. But thanks to an untimely intervention, the moment was utterly ruined. Did she now wish to continue where they had left off? Or perhaps go even farther than that? His mind began racing, thinking of the numerous things that could happen. But whether they did or not, he was sure of one thing. He wasn't ready to move in that direction yet. Not after what happened _before_. And even more so, he still wasn't sure of his feelings about Marvel. He began questioning if he truly did like her. Neither one of them had yet to admit to the other's feelings, and he had only become her boyfriend on an accidental whim. Taking in a deep breath and gulping, Tails figured he had to say something about it. Hopefully the girl wouldn't take it the wrong way. And even more importantly, hoping she wouldn't become even the slightest bit upset. Something he nearly forgot about, and definitely one fuse he wished to remain unlit. Opening the door, he closed his eyes, bracing himself for the possible glomping by the pink puff in lingerie.

"Marvel, we need to talk. I can't go through with this. I…"

Tails found his words once again falling on deaf ears, as the girl who had been so ready to commit a felony lay sprawled out on the bed, her mouth wide open and snoring. With his hand still raised in question, it quickly fell limp by his side, and he found his own mouth hanging open in disbelief. "You can't be serious."


	17. Cradle to the Grave : part one

**Characters This Far:**

Miles 'Tails' Prower – Will probably never get a break

Marvel St. Vanderburgh – Competing for dominant female of the story

Vanessa St. Vanderburgh – Just when you thought she wasn't so evil…

* * *

The cool breeze that blew in from the open window reminded him of how much he missed the comfort of his own bedroom. The cruise was long since over and though he couldn't say it wasn't a slightly traumatizing experience, Tails was glad that he had at least a couple days to somewhat relax himself. More importantly, a couple days to take his mind off of the swirling torrent of worries that wracked his mind. Because of that, he found himself constantly waking up throughout the night, and glancing over at the pink hedgehog 'burritoed' in the blanket next to him. Just looking at her, you couldn't tell she was a multidimensional doppelgänger who possessed monstrous strength and could possibly obliterate you one night while you slept. The more he found himself thinking about her, the more he found it impossible to return to the realm of slumber. However, whether he wanted to do that or not wouldn't really matter. Because it seemed like someone else had other plans for him. As he lay there, Tails felt an overwhelming tingling sensation sweep over his entire body. A second later, he realized he was no longer laying in his bed, but floating five feet above the ground in his workshop. The abrupt phase-shifting didn't hurt as much as the fall did, making sure he clipped a toolbox or two as he crashed to the floor. "ACK! What the hell just-!" Tails groggily clutched his back.

"I think you've rested enough." A familiar feminine voice came from behind him. Tails rolled over to see the white fox that had all but disappeared upon his and Marvel's return 3 days prior.

"Vanessa? What did you just do to me!"

"A stupid question. I just transported you here."

"Can't you see I was asleep? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"2:42 A.M."

"Exactly! Why did you bring me down here?"

"Another stupid question." Vanessa said, reaching down and grabbing Tails by the fur of his chest. The twin-tailed fox winced as she hastily dragged him to his feet, before shoving him against the nearby wall and knocking down some of his tools. "Have you already forgotten?"

"Forgotten what!" Tails tried the pry himself free of the older girl's grip.

"Let me refresh your memory." The girl said, reaching down to grab him again and shoving the back of his head into the ground. "You remember now?"

"OW! What are you-" Tails was cut off by another skull-crash.

"How about now?"

"**Stop that**! Why are you-!"

"Now?" Vanessa said, forcing his head into the floor harder. "It's in your best interest to answer me."

"What do you think I'm trying to do!" Tails yelled in her face, before she shoved the back of his skull into the hard concrete floor again.

"I'm still waiting on an answer." Vanessa said, biting one of her nails on her free hand while she continued to hold the boy down. She then took the opportunity to send his head to the ground one more time before the dazed teenager began cringing.

"CROSS GATE! I KNOW! NOW LET ME GO!" Tails raged, clutching the back of his head. The white fox standing over him complied with his request, letting her grip on his forehead go and allowing him to roll from side to side and sucking his teeth.

"No, you **don't** know. Because if you did, you wouldn't be waddling around with your thumb up your arse."

"What are you talking about? I haven't forgotten about it!"

"I don't see any attempts being made to fix it, do you?"

"It's not like I haven't been trying!" Tails said, finally standing to his feet and leaning against his work bench. "Ever since then I've been thinking about it constantly. I just don't see how I'm supposed to do anything about something I know absolutely nothing of."

"So you're just going to sit around and do nothing?" Vanessa glared at him. "Because you can't figure something out? Because it's technology you don't understand? You fail to correctly prevent a core meltdown and now you believe you can't do anything?"

Her words were blunt, but they hit the bulls-eye. There had never been a piece of technology Tails couldn't figure out somehow. No matter how long he had to study or fiddle around with it. The thought of failing at something was a maddening feeling he knew all too well in his younger years, and something he tried to avoid at all costs. "I know, ok? I know…"

"Must I remind you what awaits you if you fail to complete it?"

"If that's some excuse to strike my skull into the floor again, then no."

"You only have so much time, you know. I wonder why you decide to waste it gallivanting on the ocean with my idiot sister."

"It was just a couple days! And need I bring up the fact that upon our return, you were nowhere to be found?"

"And while you were taking just you couple days, I've been hard at work trying to prevent the multiverses from collapsing in on themselves."

"Wait, what?" Tails looked at her confused. Sighing, Vanessa took a few steps back, staring at him as if she were telling him he might wanted to do the same. A second later, she snapped her finger, and Tails suddenly found that he was now standing under a large shadow. Without much time to react, he dove out of the way of the falling debris, landing at the girl's feet. The loud clanking and banging of numerous metallic objects filled the room and Tails looked back to see the scorched and wrecked remains of what used to be Vanessa's Cross Gate. Looking up at her, or not really at her, as he found himself glancing under her already short, oriental-styled dress, he blushed madly, before the girl furrowed a brow and growled.

"You get a good enough look, yet?"

"Uh, I-uh, uh!" Tails scrambled to fight through his garbled linguistics. He wouldn't have to wait for long, before the older girl grew irritated enough to kick him away from her and into the pile of scrap-metal. "Ugh! What…this is…"

"What used to be my Cross Gate."

"I thought you said it got destroyed?"

"Xentanium metal doesn't break so easily."

"All burns and scratches aside, this thing looks like it took quite a beating, but could still be somewhat functional."

"That's only the core."

"What!" Tails said in surprise. The massive mound of parts that lie in front of him took over almost all the floor room in the shop that the already spacious Tornado didn't. Now she tells him it only accounted for no more than a fraction of the actual machine.

"It's the main component needed to make the Gate work. Without that, it's pointless to waste time with anything else. As such, it's your priority."

"These internal parts." Tails said, grabbing a couple of wires and melted circuit cards. "Not to mention this thing needs a new engine."

"Then why don't you use those stupid rocks your world seems so fond of."

"What? Oh-right! The Chaos Emeralds!" Tails had nearly forgotten about those little gems.

"Remind me, you're supposed to be a genius, right?" Vanessa sounded skeptical.

"Shuttup already!" Tails rubbed his forehead. "Anyway, with these parts, I can at least figure out where I need to start. I can borrow some schematics and parts for the dimensional coupler from Rotor, but it's going to take some time to find everything else."

"Don't worry. You have all the parts you need." Vanessa said, snapping her finger again and warping herself onto one of the Tornado's wings.

"What are you talking about?"

"Skadoosh!" She grinned, warping in a dozen metal crates; crates that had an all too familiar military logo on them.

"Oh no…you didn't…" Tails instantly felt a chill crawl up his spine.

"I've already procured the parts you need. Maybe. I really don't know what's in these things, but they were pretty heavily guarded so I'm sure they're important or something."

"You stole these from G.U.N.!" Tails roared.

"I told you I've been busy. And I wouldn't call it stealing, per se. I think of it as more of a loan."

"Do you know who those guys are!"

"Haven't the slightest clue."

"How did you even get in and out of there undetected? That place is like a maximum security fortress now!"

"Small, tactical insertions are what I'm good at. No one even knew I was there. Well, no one 'cept for that small, angry fellow."

"You don't mean…"

"The guy's sharp. Seems he could sense me the whole time. We had a little confrontation, but like anyone else, his first impulse was to strike first, ask questions later."

"What'd you do to him?"

"He, like you, found out what happens when someone touches me. Surprising how long he held onto my arm before he blacked out."

"And your first thought was to come straight here!" Tails panicked. "If you did what I'm **thinking** you did, there's no way G.U.N.'s going to let that one slide! **Especially** him!"

"You are **such **a **puss**." Vanessa crossed her arms. "You really think I'm an amateur? I've been doing this my whole life, and I know how to cover my tracks. And then you have this little number."

Tails watched the girl warped in a small object and tossed it at him. As he caught the thin, paper object, his face distorted with an enormous frown, and he stared angrily at Vanessa. "Are you SERIOUS!"

"What?"

"You used **my** face!" Tails said, holding up the paper cut-out of his poorly drawn likeness. "What even made you **think** that was a good idea!"

"I'm a fox, you're a fox, and nobody's going to know the difference. That looks enough like you. And even if it doesn't, they'd come after you first. No harm there, right?"

"No, you think!"

"Just one more reason you should finish as quickly as possible. Time's not on your side at all."

"You caused all of this!"

"Regardless of who caused it, your situation remains the same. So if I were you, I would quit wasting time and get to work."

"Ugh!" Tails palmed his face. He was really in a fine mess at this point. And for once, Marvel wasn't all as much involved in causing his misfortune. He'll take that one as a win for now. But more importantly, he may or may not have just become the enemy of an entire military organization for stealing who knows what. And worse, the enemy of a certain black hedgehog who when he finally came to, probably wants nothing more than to hunt him down and end him for his humiliation. If so many people can mistake Sonic for any other hedgehog at a moment's glance, he wouldn't doubt that a poorly drawn cut-out of his face would do the same for him. From whichever angle he looked at it, he was definitely in a hot mess. All in part created by the white fox that kicked her feet back and forth over the leading edge of the Tornado's wing. "I'll start first thing in the morning." Tails said, turning to leave. However, no sooner than he did, he felt a sharp ,stinging object wrap around his throat and whip him back into the pile of scrap.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Vanessa smiled.

"Back…to sleep!" Tails fought to breathe through the girl's electric lasso.

"I don't think so." She said, releasing him. "I didn't bring you down here for the hell of it, boy. I intend for you to get the job done."

"What? That's ridiculous! Sure, you brought all of this stuff here, but that doesn't mean I have to start working on it right away! I need time to rest and-"

"You had two days of rest, did you not?" The girl's tone suddenly grew darker. "And quite frankly, I don't like waiting to get what I want."

"So you're just going to-"

"**I'm** not going to do anything. I've done enough to help your sorry arse. **You** are going to get to work rebuilding my machine. And you're going to do it **NOW**."

"You can't just expect me to do something like that!"

"Oh, I can do a lot of things." Vanessa said, teleporting directly in front of him. She continued to advance on him, Tails backing away knowing what would happen if she decided to make physical contact. When he ran out of room to evade her, the girl pushed him against the wall, and slammed both hands down on either side of his head; locking him in his place. "As your body found out the last time we were alone, I'm quite good at the game of torture. I like to think of it as my sick little hobby."

Tails felt beads of sweat instantly race down his forehead. Could a fox even sweat? How else could he explain it? The girl began to trace circles on his chest, raising one of her legs and straddling the side of his body. "You remember how good that felt last time, right?" She whispered while leaning into his ear.

"N-No! Th-that wasn't g-good at all!"

"**I** definitely felt something." Vanessa said, her fingers slowly inching down from his chest to his abdomen. "An **invigorating** feeling. I can't tell you how good it felt when your body was writhing beneath me. The way you screamed out in pain. I just get **so** excited."

"H-how aren't I b-being shocked right now?" Tails wondered, noticing that he wasn't feeling the intense pain he usually felt whenever the girl touched him.

"**Restraint.**" Vanessa said coldly, reaching lower and grabbing a certain part of the fox that he never wished to ever be touched by anyone, let alone the psychotic masochist in front of him. He jumped upward, shrieking, before his entire body locked up. "I'm being **very** generous. Something my sister can tell you I don't do often. It would be in your best interest not to let this opportunity I'm giving you pass by. And the last thing you would want to do is try my patience, **correct**?"

Tails felt a small surge of electricity shoot through his body, from the most vulnerable place imaginable, which made it ten thousand times worse. Just then, he felt like dropping to his knees and sinking over onto the floor, but the girl held him upright, laying her head on his chest and wrapping her other hand around his neck. A moment later, she looked up at him, her eyes half shut, and leaning in close to his face, as if ready to kiss him. However, she pulled back just before their lips touched, and stared him in the eyes. "That's what I thought."

Vanishing in a flash of light, and landing on top of the Tornado again, Vanessa watched as the boy dropped to the ground on all fours, breathing heavily. He glared up at her through clenched teeth, but no words were said. It was obvious who was in control of the situation. Once again, he was left helpless in the clutches of the white fox, and there was no telling what she'd do if she decided to get any more upset. "Ok…" Tails finally muttered. "Fine…"

"That's a good boy."

* * *

Marvel awoke that morning the same way she did just about every morning. The blanket she wrapped herself in slowly unwounded, in the direction of the edge of the bed no less. And as always, she would slide right out and onto the floor with a loud thud; something the boy downstairs managed to hear, letting him know that she was finally up. Sitting upright, she yawned, looking tiredly around the room before noticing that her friend-of-boy was nowhere to be found. Not bothering to put on lesser revealing clothing, she traveled downstairs and into the living room, but still no sign of him. Nor in the kitchen, or the bathroom. Was he even in the house? The feeling she got then was all too familiar. The same one she got when he was in trouble the last time he went missing. And no doubt, there was one person responsible. Walking up to the one door in the house she hadn't checked yet, Marvel kicked it open furiously, and found her object of much scorn atop the biplane in the back of the room. "Vanessa!"

"Good morning, dear." The white fox said, taking a sip of tea from her glass that she later placed back down on the wing. "How was your sleep?"

"Don't screw with me! Where is he!"

"Right there." The older sibling said, pointing down to the large machine that had somehow sprouted two tails.

"Oh…" Marvel calmed. "What are you doing?"

A question directed at Tails. However, the boy couldn't really answer, as he tried to pull himself out of the mess of wires and metal. "Aren't you proud of him? Your little boy-toy's been up all night working hard on a way to fix our Gate."

"Is that so…" Marvel questioned her sister's words. Looking at Tails, who was now free, he stared at her for a moment, before averting his eyes.

"Yeah…" He said, exhausted.

"Are you sure?" Marvel said, walking up to him and placing a hand on his cheek. "You look really tired."

"I'm fine, Marvel. Really." Tails grabbed her hand and removed it. "You don't have to worry about anything."

"Anytime you're alone with her, I can't help but worry."

"Is that why you were so willing to sleep with her last week?" Tails brought up Marvel's all too quick reaction to join her sister in taking over his bedroom.

"Simply to keep her within arm's reach."

"Ouch, that hurts." Vanessa smiled. "We're sisters, aren't we? Why so loathsome?"

"I haven't forgotten what you tried to do to me." Marvel stared her down. "But right now, I can't argue that the Gate is important."

"Then how about you go play somewhere and let him work." Vanessa said, shooing her sister. Marvel turned her attention to Tails, worriedly looking at him. The boy sighed, and then winced, as he felt a quick jolt stab him in the leg that Vanessa somehow channeled through the ground.

"It's ok, Marvel. She's not bothering me."

"But I am?"

"N-no. It's just…" Tails tried to say, before his mouth was instantly shut by another stinging jolt from her sister.

"I wouldn't expect you to know anything about the Gate other than how to break it. And we all know you can do **that**. For now, I'll give him the **helping hand** he needs. Your presence isn't necessary sister."

"If that's how it is…" Marvel lowered her head a little. "Then I won't get in your way."

"Wait, Marvel-" Tails reached out to touch her, but the pink hedgehog spun around and somewhat angrily exited the room. Before slamming the door shut, she gave Vanessa a dangerously spiteful glare, in which the other girl found amusing.

"What was that about?" Tails looked at her. Vanessa smiled, brushing back her bangs.

"A girl who knows her place. You give her less credit than she deserves."

"Huh?"

"She knows the extent of my power. And for that reason, she knows what I'm capable of doing to you. She doesn't want a repeat of what happened last time, so for your sake, she's biting her tongue and playing along like a good girl."

"Marvel…" Tails murmured. There was no doubt that the other girl was probably a lot more powerful than the pink puff was. And if she already had this much of a hold on him, what else could she be plotting? There were just too many mysteries surrounding Vanessa, and just when he thought she couldn't be any more threatening, she proves him wrong. But that wasn't the most upsetting thing to him. What's worse is that he let Marvel be turned away without even lifting a finger, as he was virtually powerless to do so. He knew that she had to be upset, and most of all, worried. The best he could do was finish the repairs to the Cross Gate and get himself out of this mess. And away from the white fox that now wrapped her arms around his chest and brought him in close to her as she breathed down his neck.

"And I **hope** you're a good boy and at least keep me a little entertained. Otherwise, I may get a little…**bored**."


	18. Cradle to the Grave : part two

**Characters Thus Far:**

Miles 'Tails' Prower – Has got it bad.

Marvel St. Vanderburgh – Indirectly solves problems purposefully.

Vanessa St. Vanderburgh – Gets off on tormenting others.

Rotor Walrus – A second appearance in the same story? He's getting lucky.

**A/N: Whew. I was not intending a chapter this long, or hard to really write. But whatever, it's done, you know? Yeah, I got this. Those with an extensive knowledge of Mobile Suit OVAs may catch a few references here. Other than that, enjoy the chapter. Not forgetting to review, of course. **

* * *

Tails didn't know how many days had passed since he had any real decent time to rest. For as long as he could remember being awake, every second he slaved away at the heaps of circuits and metal that littered the floor of his workshop. All at the command of the white fox standing over him. Or at least, who he thought stood over him. Sometimes she was, and other times she would just seem to disappear completely. An action he took all too joyously as a sign to at least close his eyes for more than 30 seconds, before he was struck with another electrical shock from out of nowhere to wake him back up. And it was those rare moments that he found himself troubleshooting the inside of the machine that he got any real sleep, oftentimes wiggling his tails around for effect while he quickly accumulated slumber. But even those moments were cut relatively short, as he would usually hear the sounds of electrical arcing throughout the chassis of the Core, before he was then instantly shocked awake and sent scrambling to escape the self-made torture device. And whenever he did, he would glare angrily at the girl standing on the side of the Gate Core, crouching beside him with a finger pressed against the machine and a large grin on her face.

Every time it seemed like he was making progress on his work, through some miracle of science, she would suddenly snatch him up and toss him onto the ground, stepping on his chest and looking down on him and which was usually followed by a game she liked to call 'remain perfectly still'. She would spread him out on the floor and proceed to quickly stomp her heel into the ground around all of his limbs, similar to like a how one does with a knife around their fingers. Her rapid succession of kicks struck all around his body, and sometimes he was sure she would accidentally strike him in the face. Whether or not it would still be called an accident after that was debatable. That wasn't nearly as bad as the game she played where she took personal pleasure in tormenting his teenage mind. Those he actively tried to avoid.

Over the next four days, he was sure he was at his wits end. Both with the stressful work of repairing the beyond-hi-tech Cross Gate Core, and being Vanessa's personal flying monkey (no Khan reference intended)was beginning to wear him out. However, possibly the worst of all the trauma that ate at him was the constant reminder of how the pink hedgehog outside was treated. Occasionally, she would return to the workshop, carrying a tray of food for the boy to eat that would be quickly snatched up by her elder sibling who would occasionally throw him whatever she didn't feel like eating. Each time he looked at her, he was reminded of how much she hated every minute of how he was being treated, and knowing that there was nothing civilized she could do to help him. He was certain she could attack Vanessa at any moment, but the only reason she didn't was because she feared he may get caught in the crossfire like last time. And then again, maybe another reason was because he had told her it was alright. When he thought about it, Marvel really was loyal to his every word. If he told her to do something, she would barely disagree to do it. And if he told her not to do something, most of the time, she wouldn't even lift another finger. It was something he found confusing, but also a little troubling. In this case, he had told her that he was fine, and that she wouldn't need to do anything to help him. And he could tell by her constant irritated expression and standoffish motions that she wanted to defy those orders. How she could not be angry with him right now was something he wasn't sure if he should be relieved about, or something he would later regret. But if he regret anything right then, it would be his own words.

As he crawled out of the Gate Core one more time, he looked around at what used to be his cluttered workshop and now seeing only empty containers and spare wires and parts. His fur was covered in dirt and metal shavings, not having been able to properly clean himself since that horrible night started. His hands were completely filthy, having long since removing his gloves and even wondering why he still wore those things at all anymore. Looking at the end result of his labor, the boy breathed a heavy sigh of relief, before he was hit with a sudden painful jolt that instantly dropped him to his knees. The intense electrical shocks continued much longer than they usually had, and trying to raise his head, he saw the girl responsible sitting at his workbench and smiling. "Look at that. See what you can accomplish when you put a little effort into it?"

"I don't think effort was the problem…" Tails tiredly mumbled, averting his gaze.

"Oh, come on. It's not that unbearable is it? You're making me seem like a bad person."

"You **are**!" He snapped at her. "It's bad enough what it is you're doing, but it's even worse that I couldn't even sleep, or use the restroom properly!"

"So you've had to do your business from the deck, that's something children do all the time." Vanessa waved him off.

"I'm not a child!"

"I know. That's too bad." She said, pushing herself away from the desk and rolling up to him. "I'd have a lot more fun with this if you were."

"W-what?" Tails instantly grew nervous. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing." Vanessa said, stopping the rolling chair just before him. She reached down with her right hand and cupped his chin, staring down at the confused teenager. "But for someone who said it was impossible, you still made it this far. All it took was a little…motivation."

"That's only natural… I've been **working** for the past 98 hours. If I somehow didn't die already from sleep deprivation I'm sure I would be able to at least accomplish something significant. Besides, most of the parts from those stolen G.U.N. containers actually proved useful."

"And so?"

"I was able to complete all the physical repairs." Tails said, trying to pick himself up, but the fox girl forced him to remain on his knees in front of her. "H-however, there's still the fact t-that I can't figure o-o-out t-the…" Tails found it increasingly hard to speak. Not because his face was growing numb to the girl's touch, but because she was dragging him closer to her body. He now sat directly in front of her, his face being joined on each side by her thighs.

"Go on. You were saying?" Vanessa's grin darkened.

"T-that I can't figure out the pattern of wiring to route power to the Dimensional Coupling Device."

"Any way you can make that even simpler to understand?"

"I can't get it to turn on…" Tails said, now finding himself sweating. He found it hard to ignore the girl's scent being this close to her, and definitely in a place he had never before imagined. Taking his face in her hands, Vanessa drew him in closer, until he was forced to remove his hands from the floor. Out of instinct, he tried to support himself with the first thing he could touch, which unfortunately for him, happened to be her knees. His expression grew tense, as Vanessa didn't look the least bit happy that he was making contact with her.

"Did I tell you that you could touch me?" she said, digging her nails into the side of his head. Tails cringed, fighting the temptation to do the same to the girl's knees. When she looked down, she noticed the small stains on her white fur left behind by his carelessness. "And now you've gotten me all dirty."

"You were the one who suddenly grabbed me and-!" Tails tried to say, but found himself silenced by the fact that his face was sent crashing into her leg. She held him there, forcing his mouth against her ruined fur.

"Since you were the one who made me all dirty, I expect you clean it up."

"T-then at least let me get a-"

"Lick it."

"What!" Tails protested with barely enough room to speak. "I'm not doing that!"

"Lick it off. **Now**." Vanessa said, sending a torrent of electricity through her nails and into his skull. Tails bit down hard, his hands once again instinctively trying to balance himself out when he felt his body collapsing under him. His face now lay buried in the inside of her thigh along with his right hand, while his left somehow found its way past that and gripped onto her upper thigh and a little past the end of her dress. "Now look what you've done. You've made even more of a mess."

"Listen, I'm not going to…" Tails fought the urge to say, feeling her dig deeper into his cranium. This was certainly not the position he wanted to be in, but there was no way he was going to get out of it. If only Marvel were present right then. Actually, it might have been best if she hadn't seen the two of them in their current predicament, or she would be sure to fly off the handle. Grabbing the fur on the back of his head, Vanessa positioned him just above her knee and smiled.

"My fur isn't going to clean itself."

Tails, forcefully shutting his eyes and hesitantly sticking out his tongue, realized just how low he had dropped in the scale of men. His body quaked and his breaths became more rapid and unstable. Inch by inch his tongue grew closer to the girl's body, and he could feel her slight shivers of anticipation. How do you know what days worth of oil, metal, and solder taste like? Tails found that answer out firsthand for the first time in his life. And strangely, it tasted like humiliation.

"Yes…that's it…that's a good boy…" Vanessa said, closing her eyes and leaning her head back. The younger fox continued his degrading task, and wincing at the sudden pain of the girl digging her nails into his skull.

"Ahhh, I can't **stand** it!" Vanessa shouted, thrusting his face into her inner thigh.

"Umpphmh!" Tails found it hard to control himself at this point. His tongue lay buried in the older fox's thigh, and her hand constantly forcing him down without even a thought of his need for breathing patterns.

"Yes! Right **there**! Lick it **harder**! I'm getting sooooo hot!"

Without warning, Vanessa threw her feet up and wrapped them around Tails' lower back, locking him closer and squeezing both her thighs around his face. For the first time in 5 years, he felt lower than he had even been before. Here he was, a well-known hero, who fought wars and legions of enemies, took on multidimensional beings, and even legendary gods. That same hero now was being subjected to lick the body of a girl who in only a matter of days had single-handedly reduced him to nothing. The exhaustion, the humiliation, the desperateness on his face clearly showed, and the white fox loved every moment of it. As he quickly grew more estranged, his tongue also began moving faster and harder. Something that clearly the girl enjoyed.

"Ohohohhohohhoo! This is **amazing**! It feels **so** good! I want to feel it forever! You better not stop!"

"Va…ness…a…!" Tails daringly fought through the girl's overbearing force. Seeing himself in this situation, it could have only gotten worse from there. He prayed that Marvel didn't walk in and see them. An event that was guaranteed not to have a remotely good outcome. But why would he just let something like that happen? Hadn't he done enough to possibly hurt her? Hadn't he been subjected to enough torture at the hands of the white fox wrapped around him? Yes, she was much stronger than him. Yes, she possessed unreal, supernatural powers. And yes, she could potentially fry him from the inside out if he so much as thought about defying her. But none of that seemed to matter anymore. If there was a time to do something for himself, it was now. And he wasn't about to let his pride sink so low as to continue this degradation any longer. It was with that thought that he reached up with his hands and grabbed the edging of her dress around her waist, attempting to pull the girl off of him. Though as lengthy and empowering as this paragraph was, it did nothing but excite the girl even more.

"I get **so** hot when you touch me there. Feeling your steamy breath! Your dirty fingers! Oh, I feel so** filthy**! I want you to make me **dirtier**! Make me a dirty girl!" Vanessa yelled, squeezing her legs even tighter around him.

"Enough…already…!" The twin-tailed fox found himself closer and closer to the girl's body than he ever wished to be. He could virtually feel the heat emanating from her lower region, her scent engulfing his nostrils, and her hands clutching the back of his head, scratching him as she forced him down.

"It wouldn't be fair to stop now! I want to see the look on his face a little longer!"

"Wait, what!" He snapped his head up, surprisingly after Vanessa released her grip on him. He traced his eyes around the room, until he saw the image of the glasses-wearing walrus on the transmission monitor over his workbench. Tails' eyes widened in horror, his tongue still hanging out, and the girl that entrapped him staring at him with a wildly sinister smile on her face.

"Ummm…yeah…hi…" Rotor said, scratching his head. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Somebody kill me. Just do it right now..."

* * *

Embarrassed for what seemed like the thousandth time in 4 months, Tails sat at his workbench, palming his face. Meanwhile, the girl responsible for yet another traumatic event found her position on top of the Tornado again, kicking her feet back and forth and chuckling to herself. Rotor continued to hang his head down, not really sure he could face the young teenager. "So…"

"It wasn't at **all** what it looked like…" Tails told him, his expression completely obscure.

"Oh, it was **totally** what it looked like." Vanessa teased, earning her a vicious glance from the two-tailed victim of circumstance. "Even so, big boy there didn't seem like he **wanted** to look away."

Rotor coughed a couple times, before clearing his throat and looking away once again. "I couldn't see too well, and um…yeah…"

"What did you want?" Tails muttered, annoyed with the whole situation.

"You sent me a message a couple days ago, didn't you?"

"What?" Tails had a hard time remembering what the walrus was talking about. He couldn't recall doing anything other than repairing the Gate Core, and trying not to get impaled by a stiletto. Rubbing his forehead, he groaned, slowly closing his eyes. "Oh…right. I did, didn't I?"

"You sent it about a day and a half ago, but I wasn't at my lab. Sorry I couldn't get back with you sooner."

"It's nothing to worry about."

"Honestly, I was surprised."

"About what?"

"Seeing you suddenly interested in trans-dimensional theories and principles of dynamic travel is enough to make anyone surprised. You've never shown an interest in those sorts of things before."

"For better or for worse, people do change." Tails crossed his arms.

"I guess you're right about that." Rotor said, adjusting his glasses. A moment later, he played around with his keypad and brought up three more screens for Tails to see. There were a number of schematic diagrams and wire paths; the only ones he had been unsuccessful in figuring out. "When you sent me these files, I had to admit, I was completely stumped. The figures, the circuits, I've never seen anything like this so called Cross Gate before."

"It's…relatively advanced."

"Damn straight it is. Just what is it you're building something like this for? Why would you even need to build this behemoth in the first place?"

"It's a long story…"

"And these specs, it's like fresh out of a futuristic novel or something."

"It's pretty much foreign tech. I don't know if the data is all there, I did what I could to restore the original design. Once I was able to reactivate the memory unit, I could pull everything I needed from there, granted it took me over what felt like seventeen hours just to do that. Everything seems to be in place, except for the-"

"Dimensional Coupling Device receiver and Central Power Transmission Line." A familiar voice said from behind him. Tails frantically spun around in his chair, only to see a certain pink hedgehog standing behind him with a melancholic look on her face.

"M-Marvel! Where'd you just-! When did you-?"

"My oh my, she's two-for-two now!" Rotor laughed. "Marvelous strikes again!"

"Hey, you're that tooth guy." Marvel said happily. "Long time no see!"

"I could never forget the person who discovered the secret to my machine. And it appears that same sharp mind is at work here too."

"Uh…" Marvel paused. "Yeeeeaaaahhhhhh…I was just looking at **that**." She said, pointing to a set of words on the diagram.

"Well, I feel bad now." Rotor's bliss dissipated.

"Forget that!" Tails growled. "What are you doing here?"

"Take hence a look at my hand, good sir." Marvel said, balancing a plate of steaming hot food that he had failed to notice the entire time.

"Ahhh…" Tails' mouth instantly began watering. "You brought that for me?"

"It certainly wasn't for** her**." Marvel stared up at her elder sister, who since her sinister antics a short while ago ended, had been sitting atop the tornado and hadn't made a sound since. In fact, she didn't seem to be paying attention to any of them. She sat with her legs crossed, her elbows resting on her knees and her chin in her palms.

"I expected **some** sort of reaction." Tails nervously said.

"Occasionally she just sits there and broods like that. I don't really know what causes her to do that." Marvel chimed in. "But her mouth's not moving, consider this a win."

"I can still **hear** you." Vanessa said suddenly, glancing down at Marvel and Tails. A moment later, she disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared just before them. The pink hedgehog tensed up, tightening her grip on the boy's food as the other girl walked towards her. She let out a small growl, that quickly grew in intensity and volume as Vanessa got closer. But then she just walked right past her, before letting out a loud yawn. "**Anyway**, you take over."

"What?" Tails' demeanor cracked. "What do you mean take over! You keep me up building this thing and then you just up and decide to leave like you never did anything?"

"I've done **my** part. All this talk about theories and wires are giving me a headache. I'll let that idiot do the rest."

"You say that as if you knew what's going on!"

"Right." Vanessa scratched her side. "Either way, it's your problem now. Figure it out, will ya?"

Yawning again, the girl warped away. Tails grind his teeth together noisily, completely irrational in his state of mind. He had been forced to complete the Gate Core with little to no food, no sleep, and very little remaining patience. Now the root cause of his misery just up and decided to abandon him like none of it mattered. That was sure to upset anyone. Realizing that for the moment the threat was gone, he turned back to Marvel, or at least, where she once stood. In her place was an empty plate, which spun in circles on the floor; its contents scattered all over. The pink hedgehog, on the other hand, was too busy rolling around in the excess wires in the middle of the room until she was covered in them. Whether it was just a clear example of Marvel's super-spontaneous behavior again, or whether it was the fact that hedgehogs liked rolling in things, Tails couldn't find the energy to even be upset at her.

"I'm not sure what just happened but…" Rotor tried to remain focused on the matter at hand. "I almost forgot why I called you just now."

"H-huh?" Tails said, not really concentrating on him.

"I may have figured out the missing piece to the puzzle."

"Really? You figured out what that missing link was?"

"By missing link, I assume you're referring to the wire path that connects the DCD and the CPTL. And by found it, I assume you mean exactly what the problem is?"

"Meaning…you **didn't** figure it out yet." Tails' ears drooped.

"Partially." Rotor scratched his head. "There was a plethora of data coming off of that thing. In it, I saw a piece of information that caught my eye."

"That would be?"

"In the data, it says that you would need to _open eight columns and make a suspension bridge_."

"Eight columns and a suspension bridge…" Tails read through the data. "I've come across that too, multiple times. But I don't know what it could possibly mean. I've spent hours going through every possible combination of paths I know, even the ones I've never tried before."

"Honestly, in all my time with the FF, I've never come across something this puzzling either. I even conferred with Chuck, but he had absolutely no clue what it was talking about just the same."

"So that means I'm stuck…" Tails slammed his head on the bench surface.

"Stuck like Chuck, my friend." Rotor shook his head.

"Did you just make that one up?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Ugh…" The boy sighed deeply. Rubbing his chin, Rotor wasn't sure how he could help his friend piece together the puzzle. But just then, something in the background caught his attention. The sight of the girl wrapped in cords, who now stood on her feet and played around with a long chain of wire. He watched as she wrapped it around her fingers, manipulating it into some sort of shape. As he continued to stare at her, his eyes grew larger, until he clasped his hands together in a manner that snapped the young fox from his face plant.

"That's it!"

"W-what! What's it!" Tails said frantically.

"That's the answer!" He said, pointing at Marvel. Tails looked back at her, not sure what the walrus was talking about.

"Marvel? What exactly **is** it she's doing?"

"Oh, this?" Marvel suddenly realized they were inquiring about her. "It's just a game I use to play as a kid. It's really fun, you should come try it!"

"But what is it?"

"It's called Cat's Cradle. You make all these little patterns for some reason or other, I can't really remember. Nor do I recall what the purpose of making them was for, I mean, there's a game in here somewhere. I think."

As she finished her finger work, she threw her hands out for both of them to see. "Taa-daa! This one's called an eight column bridge!"

"There it is!" Rotor said, tracing over the girl's hands. "That must be the pattern!"

"This is…" Tails took a closer look. "The top surface…it sort of looks like the computer's hard-panel interface! And the line leading down from there is the synch-computer's parallel circuit path! Marvel, you're a genius!"

"Well, chea." The girl said, shaking her hips. "This was established already."

Jumping out of his chair and running over to the Gate's Core, Tails wasted no time jumping inside and taking another shot at the wiring of the internal circuits. Minutes passed, and as Marvel and Rotor both saw his feet suddenly twitch violently and the sound of a loud electric pop, numerous lights all around the machine lit up, and it slowly hummed to life. "Hahahahahaahaha! Yes!" Tails cried. Crawling out of the machine, he tiredly stood up, and wiped his forehead. "That did it!"

"Way to go! I think that's the second time Marvelous has saved the day." Rotor grinned.

"I've saved many more days that that, but who's keeping count anyway, right?" Marvel smiled.

"I'm anxious to see where this goes." Rotor said, noticing the fox boy pump his fist up and down. However, a second later, he stopped all movement, and looked as if he were about to collapse. No, that's exactly what he did. The walrus watched as his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell onto his back. "That's not exactly what I meant."

"Hmmmm…" Marvel came over and stood next to the passed out fox. "One shock too many, I guess."

"Is he going to be alright?"

"Some sleep and he'll be as good as new. Though he might just go into cardiac arrest, I don't really know, I can't call this one."

"Hmph. Then I guess I better leave him to your care. Tell him to give me a call when he wakes up."

"Okie-dokie-smokie!" Marvel spread a large grin and saluted him. Rotor laughed, turning to go way, but then he came back to the monitor.

"Just one more thing…"

"Yes?"

"I may be missing something, but did you know what was wrong the entire time?"

"I don't know what you're **talking** about."

"The whole Cat's Cradle thing. It seemed like more than a coincidence that you just happen to do that at this exact time."

"You must be imagining things."

"So you won't tell me, either way, huh?"

"It's a S-E-C-R-E-T." Marvel winked. Knowing he wasn't going to get any more information out of the girl, Rotor sighed, and waved his hand.

"That's just the way it is then. See ya around."

As the monitor shut off, Marvel turned her attention back to Tails, whose mouth was wide open and the signs of an oncoming snoring epidemic were beginning to appear. Fighting back the urge to poke him, she crouched by his side and looked at the Core Unit. Though she would never openly admit it, the fault for the boy's condition fell at her hands. If she had never let herself fall victim to Vanessa's trap at the Carnival, none of this would possibly have ever happened. He had to suffer her sister's wrath multiple times, and there wasn't anything she could do to help him without the situation potentially ending in disaster. Whenever the other girl was involved, nothing would ever end pleasantly. For the moment, everything was fine. But for how much longer would it remain that way? Looking back down at him, Marvel brushed a hand against his cheek as her smile slowly faded. "Not anymore…I won't let anyone else hurt you. I swear it."


	19. That Awkward Moment When

Character's thus far:

Miles 'Tails' Prower – Slowly losing his mind

Marvelous St. Vanderburgh – Dangerously lovable.

Cream the Rabbit – Wow, even **she** makes an appearance in this story.

A/N: So…yeah. I know what you're going to say. "OMFZG! HE DID IT AGAIN!" No, I did not. All the same, it took me nearly 6 months to move overseas. Now in this great land of Japan, I have much more work to do, one of which is finishing this story! So now that I'm back in the game, let's get back to it! BTW, I updated previous chapters with spelling corrections and/or fixed instances that may or may not have confused people. I suggest refreshing, or you may be just a smidge lost. HA!

* * *

He was no expert on the phenomenon known as REM sleep, but Tails could swear he would've stayed there forever if he could. The past week had been absolutely miserable, and at the helm of his misfortunes was a sadistic white fox. The circumstances of her psyche he could only blame on himself depending if what she told him was the truth or not. He wondered what he could have possibly done in the future to make Vanessa turn out to be the destructive, masochistic witch that she was. Then again, the answer was pretty obvious if he was eventually the one who destroyed the future in the first place. The more he dreamed about it, the more his mind began to remember other events in his past. Some of them he wished he could have forgotten. But no matter how many times he tried, he couldn't get that moment out of his head; that certain incident that occurred 5 years ago and the incident with a certain young rabbit.

_**Oh Noez! A flashbaaaaack!**_

Tails and Sonic had just returned from a mission away from the city, in their recent adventure to thwart Eggman's latest greatest scheme. The crowd of Mobians cheering and whistling was enough to give him a sense of pride and accomplishment. Walking through the mass crowd taking potshots of handshakes and hoorahs, Sonic slapped Tails on his back and dragged him in close. "Look at that pal! They can't get enough of us!"

"I think it's **you** they can't get enough of." Tails slugged his partner back.

"Speaking of not being able to get enough…" Sonic said, as they reached the top of the large stairway to the High Counsel building. There, they met the eyes of what Tails would have thought to have just been the Princess on her usual Sonic welcoming party. However, he noticed a smaller figure standing next to her this time. A young girl he knew well, staring shyly at him, and waving. Tails stiffened up and nearly stopped in his tracks, until Sonic grinned sneakily and pushed him forward like any great friend would do.

The fox staggered forward until he came to an ungraceful stop in front of the rabbit. "Eh…uh…hi…Cream…" Tails said nervously.

"Yes, hello…" Cream responded, trying not to look at him squarely. The current situation was a little awkward at best, and Sonic and Sally were making all efforts to control their laughter. Though funny, they could see that it was an issue bothering both of their protege's at the time. That was ever since Sally made the completely uncharacteristic choice to take Cream in as her pupil and mold her to become a proper Freedom Fighter, much to the condemnation of her mother. She had gained some sense of trust and bravery from her time with the Princess, enough to even divulge a secret that she had never even relayed to Amy Rose. That secret, of course, was her looming crush over the twin-tailed sidekick. Naturally, she couldn't keep her mouth shut, and when Sonic soon found out this little detail, every chance he got he played his partner into not-so-random and not-so-coincidental meetings with the shy rabbit. Eventually, he too found himself beginning to take an interest in the other.

"Well…uh…I should get…" Tails began turning to walk away, before Sonic grabbed both his shoulders and spun him around to face him.

"No, man! You will not pass up on this opportunity!" the hedgehog mumbled roughly.

"What opportunity! You did this again didn't you!" Tails grumbled back even louder.

"You know she's diggin' you man! You have to jump on that!"

"This is just you and Sally praying on other people's emotions again!"

"Yeah, you right…but that isn't the point here!"

"What is!"

"That you get in there and handle business!"

"What!"

"Get your butt in there and do work, son!"

"You're aware we can still hear you right?" Sally said, crossing her arms.

Sonic and Tails stared at her for a moment, before looking at Cream, who was blushing madly. "Heheheheheh…Yeah…" Tails laughed nervously.

"Cream, you've been working had all afternoon. And Tails, I'm sure you could relax after that last adventure. Why don't you two go into town and enjoy yourselves for the evening, my treat."

"R-really?" Cream looked expectantly at Sally.

"Sure thing. Pick anyplace you want, I'll pay."

"Now wait a minute-" Tails tried to say, before Sonic slammed his palm over his best friend's mouth.

"Well…" Cream twiddled her thumbs. "There was this new restaurant I wanted to try."

"GREAT!" Sonic shouted, raising his arms in the air. "Go there! NOW!"

"What is **wrong** with you!" Tails yelled, wanting to hit Sonic very badly.

"Chill dude. You're not the only one risking losing something in this ordeal."

"What?"

"AHEM!" Sally coughed, blushing. "Anyway, like I said, you two should go enjoy yourselves."

"Y-yes, I will! Thank you!" Cream said, overly excited. Tails palmed his face, not sure there was anything else he could do. As he was led away by Cream, he looked back at Sonic and Sally, one of which was waving them goodbye, while the other was busy putting his hands to better use. He watched Sally immediately jump, then send a devastating open-hand to his face, before turning to continue waving. This is what it meant to be young and experiencing sexual exploration. They may have just found that out.

While the sky soon changed from its orangish-purple hue to a fully darkened one, Tails and Cream walked the streets of the newly built metropolitan. As the newest 'capitol of the furries', it was truly an impressive city. The area they walked was still under some construction, but it was none the less a sight to see. Buildings as tall as the sky itself, twisting stone roadways and large open parks. It was what they worked and fought to obtain for a long time; a home worthy of being called home. He couldn't help but feel a little strange walking next to her. After all, it was technically his first real date. This must be how Sonic feels every time he's with Amy, except hoping someone somewhere would spontaneously combust so he could have an excuse to run. "So…"

"Yes?" Cream looked up at him. Tails scratched his head.

"I didn't have anything to follow up on that."

"Oh…ok." Cream smiled.

The two continued walking until they crossed one of the parks. Though he was too manly to admit, it was a beautiful sight. He could tell Cream thought so too, as she peered through all of the trees and their blossoming pink flowers with her mouth hanging open in awe. "Quite the sight, huh?"

"Yes, they're beautiful!"

"I'd say they were cool."

"Cool?"

"Uh…it's what boys say when we like stuff, I guess." Tails nervously grinned.

"So…" Cream lowered her head. "Would you say that I'm cool too?"

"W-what?" Tails jumped a little.

"N-not that I meant it that way! I j-j-just…" Cream fumbled, shaking her hands. "What I meant to say was…"

"Don't worry about it." Tails turned his gaze away from her. Silently in his mind, he cursed Sally for that awkward outburst. Maybe she trained Cream too well to speak whatever is on her mind.

The early night continued with the two of them walking in almost complete silence. Tails would occasionally glance at Cream, who would just so happen to glance back at him at that precise moment in time as well. Their eyes would meet for all of a split second, before they shot them away again, blushing and sometimes laughing timidly. Though it seemed and felt awkward at first, Tails was beginning to think that maybe it wasn't such a bad feeling to have. A feeling he once associated with another person in his life.

As they finally approached their destination, an outside restaurant named Château Le Omelet, Tails and Cream were immediately greeted by a fleet of waitresses and waiters. "Welcome!" They all said in unison. When Sally said she'd pay, Tails had no idea she would have invested so much in a five-star restaurant that specialized in making cheese-omelets. Not even moments later were he and Cream hustled to their table and made to feel like they were special guests.

"This is all too good to be coincidental." Tails sighed. Just as he did, he heard the bushes on the opposite side of their table rustle a bit. Another coincidence?

"Oh, look here!" Cream said, pointing at the menu. "They have omelet-pancakes!"

"That exists?" Tails said in disbelief. Sure enough, after looking at his own menu, he discovered that someone figured out how to make numerous dishes using only the ingredients of your typical omelet. Why didn't this person have a Nobel Prize yet?

He continued to stare at his menu, not noticing the Waitress to his side. "Sir, are you ready to order?"

"Uh…yeah. I guess I'll have the Tour de Omelet with the Armstrong sauce and a side of-" Tails sad, looking up at her. That's when his eyes grew wide and he practically leaped out of his chair. The pink hedgehog in the black and white traditional waitress attire stared at him with a menacing glare, before narrowing her eyes and tapping her pen to her notepad.

"Are you going to order or not?"

"W-what! Wait, Who..." Tails found himself sweating ridiculously. "M-Marvel?"

"Oh, so you **can** see me?" The girl bared her teeth.

"What are you doing here? And why are you looking at me like that?"

"You have yet to realize what's going on here, have you?"

"Huh?"

"And it makes perfect sense too." Marvel said, looking at Cream. "I mean look at her. She's normal. She's cute, she's innocent. She doesn't get on your **nerves**, or make you feel **uncomfortable** in any way. You like being around **her**."

"What?" Cream wondered what the girl was talking about. Tails found it hard to believe this situation was happening at all, let alone the words that spew from the aggravated hedgehog.

"Marvel, what are you saying?"

"You like **her**. You think about **her**. You think about that other one too."

"Other one?" Cream's eyes shot towards a flustered Tails. "What other one?"

"No, Cream, that's not-"

"Oh he didn't tell you? It's only natural. HE DIDN'T TELL ME EITHER!"

"What!" Tails shot back into reality; or for even that much, what he questioned to be reality. He was still sitting down in his seat, the waitress beside him clutching her notepad in sudden surprise at his outburst, and Cream staring at him confused, and honestly, a little afraid.

"She was asking if you wanted the regular sauce or the spicy…"

"O-oh…" Tails calmed down. "Yeah…the normal is fine."

"Okay then, I'll get those orders put in right away." The waitress said, hesitantly reaching for the menu in front of Tails and grabbing it. As she walked away, Tails looked back at Cream, who first averted her gaze, but then turned back to him.

"Are you okay?"

Tails didn't know how to answer that question. What happened just then? Who was he just talking to? And why did he feel an overwhelming sense of guilt in his heart at that moment. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You seemed bothered by something. Is it…" Cream lowered her voice a little. "Is it me?"

"No, don't be ridiculous! Nothing's wrong with being here with you. I'm actually pretty happy."

"Oh! You are?" Cream suddenly grew excited.

"Well, yeah…" Tails scratched his head. He closed his eyes, laughing nervously. "You see, I…uh…I kinda like being around you."

"I see…" Cream stared down at her lap, blushing madly.

"Yeah. That's why I-" Tails stopped when he opened his eyes again and saw the sickening sight of a pair of fire red eyes staring at him from behind Cream. "…No…"

"Yes." The white fox in the black dress said, reaching her arms around the rabbit and stroking her chin. Cream just sat there, completely motionless and her expression stuck in a seemingly paralyzed surprised look.

"Not you! What are you doing here!"

"Oh, so you can see me?"

"Can I see? What kind of question is that! Wait…Why are saying that too?"

"Oh, come on now." Vanessa smiled wickedly. "Surely you've realized what's going on here by now. And you're supposed to be a genius? My my…the apple really **did** fall far from the tree."

"What are you talking about you psycho! Let go of Cream!" The fox growled, standing from his seat once more and slamming his balled fists onto the table.

"Oh, so you care about this girl?"

"I…I" Tails tried to force an answer out of his mouth, however, the response he wanted to say never came out.

"You **would** care about this one. Even after what she did to you?"

"What she did?" Tails was hit with a sudden migraine, one that sent him crashing back down in his seat and clutching his head. "What…what did she…"

"You really don't remember what it was she did? You don't remember what you did to the **other one** either?

"What are you…ugh!" The boy found it hard to concentrate.

"They tricked you. They lied to you. You remember now? You're responsible for this little girl's tragic ending. Don't you remember? **Please** tell me you remember?"

"Leave me the hell alone already!" Tailed roared.

"You're responsible! You're the one who did it all! You took her innocence away! Just like you did mine! Don't you remember!" The white fox said, digging her sharp fingernails into the helpless girl's neck.

"No…Stop it! Leave her out of this!

"_Leave him out of this!" _

"What did I just…" Tails stopped. "What, no…**who **was that?"

"Just how many lives are you going to ruin?" Vanessa stared him down. "You didn't stop at this girl. You didn't even stop at **her**. By the way viewers, by **her**, I am **not** referencing this girl here. You're going to have to wait a while before I throw out **that** spoiler."

"What viewers!" Tails screamed at her.

"Get it through that thick head of yours, you idiot!" Vanessa smiled, rolling her hands back and preparing to do something so evil even it would even give Eggman shivers.

"No, don't you dare hurt her!"

"The world is a much more unforgiving than I am. Wake up already." The white fox said, thrusting her hands back fully and filling the air with the painful snap that came not even after a second before he could get the words out of his mouth.

"STOP IT!" Tails jumped up from his seat once again, scaring the daylights, although it was night, out of Cream and causing another reaction from the bush beside them.

"It was her idea man! I was trying to play it cool and, you know, one thing led to another and-OOF!"

"Sonic shut up!"

Staring at the bush then back at Cream, who didn't seem at all to have noticed anything other than his recent outbust, Tails sank back into his seat confused. This was the second time now something out of the ordinary had happened. Was this really happening right now? Was he really in his right mind? "D-does it b-bother you if I do that?"

"Huh? Do what?" Tails had no idea what Cream had been talking about.

"I was just humming…I can stop if you want me to…"

"N-no, that's not what I- Or, what I mean to say is!"

"CA-CAW!" a random sound came from out of nowhere, before Tails was hit in the side of his head by a hard object. Looking down at the ground beside him and on the brick floor, lay a small box. Reaching down to pick it up, Tails stopped for a moment, staring over at the bush just opposite him, and narrowed his eyes.

"Wait a minute…"

"I'm just gonna admit this one, we're busted." A familiar voice said. Followed by that familiar voice making a painful shriek when it was struck in the side.

"Sonic! What the heck are you doing here! And in a bush!"

"Dude, listen, it's not that complex, okay? People get trapped in bushes all the time. We just happened to be trapped in this one. Don't think about this too hard."

"We?"

"I told you to shut up!" Another familiar voice rang.

"Sally! You too?"

"Tails, I know what this looks like, but please understand. People get trapped in bushes all the time. We just happened to-"

"Ok, cut the nonsense! What are you two doing here! This is so weird!"

"What's weird is how long you plan to stay hunched under the table talking to yourself." Sonic pointed out.

"Aw crap…" Tails returned to the topside, looking at Cream, who seemed to have heard none of that exchange, and laughed nervously. "Hahahahaahaha, um…hi heh heh."

"Y-yeah…" Cream giggled nervously, not sure what was going on with him anymore. "Hey, what's that?" She asked him. Tails hadn't even noticed it, but there was definitely a box in his right hand.

"This? Oh, yeah, this! This is uh…uh…"

"A present for yooooouuuuuu…" Sonic shouted in a whisper.

"What! No!" Tails threw his head back down beside the table. "I can't do that!"

"Do what?" Cream asked him.

"AHAHAHAAHA! What now?" Tails jumped back up.

"Just do it!" Sonic whispered again.

"This is uh…" Tails tried to said, sweating horrifically and trying to stare angrily at the bush.

"Just do it you wimp!" Sally yelled. Cream, finally being able by some grace of the Makers to actually hear the voices this time, turned to look at the talking bush before Tails immediately grabbed her attention back.

"A PRESENT!" He said through clenched teeth. "Foooooor YOOOOUUUU!"

"R-really! For me?" Cream's eyes lit up. Tails laughed somewhat hysterically, handing the young girl what he now realized was a jewelry box. As she opened it, her already cheesy grin, no chao pun intened, grew even wider. "Oh…"

"Uh…" Tails wasn't too sure he liked that reaction from the girl. He wasn't even aware of what was in the box.

"Oh…oh oh OH It's so CUTE!"

"Come again?"

Cream, reaching inside the box and taking out a very beautiful bracelet made out of a colorful assortment of crystallized flowers, looked at Tails with the biggest eyes he had ever seen while making the sounds of a giddy school girl. "Is this really for me? Oh thank you thank you thank you!"

"Hahahaha…I'm…I'm glad you like it." Tails said, rubbing his eyes. He couldn't explain it, but all of a sudden he felt extremely exhausted. Cream continued to go on and on about something, her words gradually fading away until she could no longer be heard. "What was that? Cream? I can't hear you…I…can't hear anything…what's going on?"

Before he knew it, the scene before him was slowly fading to black. The image of the happy rabbit before him was drowned out by something else entirely; glimpses of random moments in time. He watched the events played out as though he were actually reliving them, but felt no connection to his actual body. He saw Cream sitting beside him on a wooden pier, staring at up at him as their hands lay locked together on their side. He could hardly believe what he was seeing, but everything seemed so right. When he closed his eyes and opened them again, everything had changed. He found himself laying on the ground, the rabbit girl standing over him, her clothes ripped and tattered and a distraught look on her face. "I didn't want to…I …I didn't!…I…" He watched as the girl started to break into tears.

"Cream…wait…what's…"

He closed his eyes again, and then soon found himself tied down in restraints in some sort of chamber. On the other side of a clear glass wall, he saw Sonic looking at him with a look of complete remorse, while Sally stood next to him and placed her hand against the glass. "Don't worry, Miles…we'll try to get them to rethink their decision. It's going to be ok."

"Miles?" Tails thought to himself. "Since when…did you ever start calling me that?"

As he closed his eyes again, he met with the gaze of a familiar person. One whom he thought he would never see again. "Hiya, loverboy. Did ya Miss me?" The girl smiled, before raising a black boot and stomping him in the face.

* * *

The impact of the strike was enough to finally wake the boy out of his sleep with enough hysteria to cause him to lash out at everything around him. He felt one of his tails strike something on the side of his bed followed by the sounds of multiple ceramic objects being broken on the floor. Tails looked around frantically, realizing that he was indeed back in his room. His fur was completely drenched, and his head was hit with a splitting headache that immediately left him paralyzed with pain. Reaching up and clutching his head, he found that there were a series of bandages wrapped around his forehead. "What…what happened to me?"

"What happened to you? Look what happened to **me**!" He heard a voice say from under the blankets on the floor that he had so frantically tossed. Pulling them back, he revealed the pink figure sprawled on the floor, covered in steaming hot breakfast material and milk and a very annoyed expression. "Do you know how hard it was to cook that? I spent the last 3 days trying to perfect that dish! I even had to buy groceries again because I went through everything in the house at least twice! And this is the thanks I get when I **finally** make it edible?"

"M-Marvel?" Tails said, slightly confused.

"Who else would I be! Lola LePhearce?"

"Who?"

"I don't know, I just made that up."

"Oh…" Tails sighed, rubbing his eyes. Just then, he shot his gaze back to Marvel with a surprised look. "Wait, 3 days!"

"Yeah, you've been sleeping for about that long. You don't remember anything? That Gate must have really done a number on you."

"The Gate…that's right!" Tails remembered. "Then, was I dreaming. About Cream too?"

"No, you see, the cream is WHAT YOU SPILLED ALL OVER MY NEW DRESS!" Marvel screamed at him. Tails had seen Marvel angry on numerous occasions, most of the time that anger was never really directed at him. But she definitely looked pissed about the outcome of her foiled attempt at delivering him breakfast in bed.

"But that looks just like the dress you always wear." Tails obviously didn't understand women.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm really upset." She said, pouting and placing her hands on her hips. It was then that Tails saw the small bruise on her cheek.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you. I just woke up suddenly and-"

"I've been hit worse than that! But that's not the point here!"

"What is?"

"You better take responsibility for this!" Marvel said, pointing to her destroyed breakfast platter.

"Uh…yeah…" Tails said, rubbing his head. He wasn't sure what was going on. He remembered everything up until the point where he fell unconscious in his workshop. And then those dreams happened. He had experienced them over and over. He lived out the exact same scenario from his past; and ultimately the same incident that occurred 5 years ago. But the last dream was what hit him the hardest. Its message became clear to him only after seconds of thinking about it. What Marvel had said to him in that dream, and what Vanessa had mentioned as well. Looking up at the fuming hedgehog beside him, Tails sighed before getting out of bed and walking over to the window. "Listen, I'll make it up to you, ok?"

"Oh? And how do you plan to do that?" Marvel grinned nefariously. "I mean, the bed's a little messy, and this room kind of smells like wet man fur but I bet it'll look and smell worse once we're done making-"

"That's not remotely what I meant!" Tails yelled. "I meant…I'll take you out for breakfast."

"Really!" Marvel jumped at the boy's proposal. "You would do that for little young me?"

"You're having too much fun with this." Tails turned to look at her. However, no amount of logic in the universe could explain how Marvel stood behind him, fully clothed in a black summer dress with matching patterned hat and boots and her hair done completely in a spiny ponytail. "HOW DID YOU EVEN ACCOMPLISH THAT!"

"What?"

"Nothing…just nothing…" Tails palmed his face.

"So, where are we going to today love?"

"To a restaurant I went to once." Tails looked out the window towards the city again. "I hear they have amazing omelets."


End file.
